#at the end of the day I’m fine and my car was repaired so I know I shouldn’t complain

[bradshawsbaby]

After months of arbitration, it was decided that “neither side will be awarded anything” in my car accident case, so it looks like I won’t be getting reimbursed for the deductible for my car repairs, despite the fact that the chick who tore up the side of my car was a psycho and clearly at fault.

I know it’s petty, but it cheers me up to think that maybe Rhett Abbott would key her car for me.

#at the end of the day I’m fine and my car was repaired so I know I shouldn’t complain #but it’s annoying #personal

[yougavemeyourheartyouknow]

Do you long for having your heart interlinked? (Miguel O’Hara x Ai/Hologram! Fem! reader) Part 2

Hiiii! Part two as promised, not proofread. Once again, heavily inspired by K and Joi’s relationship in bladerunner 2049. And there will not be a part 3, but enjoy regardless!

(Y/N)-Your name.

Cursing, Miguel being all mad scientisty at the beginning , Miguel being a bit of a perv at the beginning if you squint, talks about cutting of synthetic flesh, Miguel being a sad and desperate man if you squint a bit harder , Slight existentialism. lmk if I miss anything.

Word count: 2.2k

Part 1

Masterlist

—

“Miguel?”

His shoulders tensed up upon hearing your voice ring through his office, despite your inability to appear in the room, he always got nervous that one day you’ll end up just popping up in the middle of him working on your physical form.

“Yes?” His voice low, thick with concentration as wipes some sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief he had tossed to the side of his desk. Careful to not bump his glasses as he kept his eyes focused on wrapping the synthetic skin around your left hand, apart from the nails, it was the last bit of your arms that needed to be completed.

“It’s currently 2:24 am, you need to rest.”

“Tomorrow is my day off, I’m fine.” He replied, putting down his black marker and removing the faux skin from around the arm, placing it flat on the table as he picked up his exacto knife and began to prepare to slice off the excess skin. He needed to make sure to cut off the right amount, not wanting to cut off too little and having waste parts he could use on the rest of your body, it was almost as if he was vinyl wrapping a car.

“You still planned on going to HQ tomorrow, you need to rest.” Your words were only met with silence. “Miguel I’ll cut the power if you don’t leave that office of yours and go to bed, you’ll be insufferable tomorrow, you're even more cranky when you don’t get enough sleep.” You scolded him, Miguel’s lip twitched upwards at the mental image of your left hand on your hip with the other pointed a finger at him, your coding making non-existent wrinkle lines appear where your brows furrowed together, and next to your lips as you frown at his inability to take care of his own needs without you to remind him.

“Alright alright…” He mumbled, taking in a deep breath before blinking some sleep out of his eyes, you knew him so well. “Let me finish up, I’ll be out in twenty minutes, tops.” Instead of a verbal answer like he was expecting, he got the sound of your hologram being deactivated. Letting out a small amusement exhale from his nose when he realizes that you were physically waiting for him outside of his office door. How cute…

He was able to finish the arm up in sixteen minutes, placing the finished arm next to the other one, from the fingertips to the shoulder, packing them away properly in a briefcase that resembled those a musician would put their instrument in, he pondered on what part to work on next. Should he develop another external body part? Your legs, your torso? You’d be anatomically correct of course because he knows that’s how’d you’d want to be (and not for completely other unrelated reasons), or maybe on one of your internal “organs”, though completely made up of wiring and metal he wanted it to mimic the human body as much as he could.

“Miguel, it’s been twenty minutes.” Your voice apparently brought him out of his train of thought, making him rush to the door before you fulfill your threat of shutting the power, you’ve done it before on him.

“Alright, alright… I’m going…” he grumbled under his breath as he made his way to his room.

—

“I sent Hobie and Gwen to deal with that anomaly on Earth-A145… Jess wanted to speak to you about training for that new recruit you’ll be meeting tomorrow… and we’re gotten the thumbs up on reopening sector 6 again now that the repairs from last week are finished.” You read off your mini report from your holographic tablet, sitting on the edge of Miguel’s desk as you swung your feet as you looked back up at him. You were always in your smaller form around HQ, finding it easier for your system so you don’t get overwhelmed too quickly or easily.

Miguel replied back in a hum, his eyes trained on the screens in front of him, zoning in on watching the two spider-teens take down a Doc Ock variant pressing his lips together as he tries to keep his mind from wandering, he’s been having trouble with that recently. Letting out a grumble when he heard the faint sound of your screen dinging, internally groaning at the conversation you were both about to enter.

“Miguel…” You glanced at your tablet again, “your vitals are off again, Miguel.” You noted as you tapped around, your brows frowning together as you scowl lightly. “They’ve been like that for the past few weeks… did you want me to make an appointment with your doctor?” You asked as you looked back up at him, watching the way his nostrils expanded slightly as he exhaled out from them, shaking his head light.

“No, (Y/N), that’s not necessary.” He mumbled softly, lifting a hand in the air to wave off the concern, making you let out a huff of frustration, before phasing out and reappearing in front of him with a frown and your arms crossed over your chest. Miguel went to wave his hand through you, it passed through your programming as he silently told you to go away, his frown growing slightly deeper when he realizes that wasn’t going to rid of you.

“Miguel, don't start. Ever since a few months ago when you started to lock yourself up in your office at home, I’ve been starting to worry about you.” After your sentence, the tablet dings again, his heart rate, but you didn’t even glance at it as you look up at him.

“You don’t have to say that.” He responds automatically, his go to respond when you express concerns about him or compliment him in a way a human would. It made his heart skip a beat and sink simultaneously. Despite him overriding your original code, you were still meant to simulate romantic emotions. No matter what, that would always still be attached to you, and it didn’t help Miguel’s rapidly worsening pining for you.

“I know, I want to.” You’d always reply.

If only you knew you were the reason behind your own concerns.

“I’m fine, I promise.” He reassured you in a clam yet commanding voice, his hand going to play with the little metal spider figure on his desk that Peter had brought him one time after a mission. Your eyes narrowed towards him for a split second, before going back to their neutral position, your lips twitching up in a smile, you choose to believe him.

“If you say so, Mig.” You said before phasing away.

He let out a small hum, his lips curving upwards slightly as his eyes shifted down to the metal spider. It would be a nice addition to the metal heart he was about to start building…

—

“Morning Miguel.” The sound of your voice always helped put a smile on his face before he even opened his eyes.

“Good morning.” He replied in that same raspy voice he always did, slowly getting up and out of bed to stretch before starting his morning ritual. Groaning slightly as he felt his vertebrae pop back into place.

“I’m already warming up your coffee,” You said as your coding developed in front of him in your full size, watching as he twisted his torso to pop his hips, before going off to his restroom to get ready for his morning. Today was one of those rare days where he was off from his normal day job at Alchemax, and although he never true gave himself a day off, spending those spare days brooding up in his secluded area up in the HQ tower, watching dozens of screens to make sure that the multiverse didn’t collapse under his watch, but today was special, so he had Jess watch over the society for the day.

“Today’s a special day, (Y/N). You know why?” He asked, sipping on his coffee, as he glances at your presence in his kitchen as he waits for his bagel to pop out from the toaster behind you, a plate already waiting next to the cream cheese and a spreading knife.

You just tilted your head to the side, that once-in -a-blue-moon look of confusion crosses your face as you quickly look over his digital calendar for the day in your internal system only to be met with nothing. Because he purposely left it off, just to see that adorable rare look on your digital features. It was written on a sticky note in his home office instead.

January 14, 2099. (Y/N)’s activation date.

That was two years ago now, exactly down to the day. Miguel finally let out a chuckle when you eventually shrugged your shoulders, waiting for him to tell you.

“Today is the two year anniversary of you being my assistant.” He said as the sound of his breakfast finally popping up, you moving aside to get out of Miguel’s pathway despite his ability to phase through you, knowing how he feels weird about it.

“Really? It doesn’t quite feel that long for me.” You comment as you watch him complete his meal before taking a bit out of the still steaming thing of bread, watching the way the cream cheese slowly starts to melt and drip down onto the plate from the hole in the center of the bagel.

The concept of time to you was a thing you really only understood in theory, it felt like almost… a bubble. On the inside was Miguel, or humans in general. They were born, they celebrate each year when the earth does a full rotation around the sky, they grow up, grow old then they eventually die. Everyday they walk up, usually around the same time, go about their day as they attempt to stick to a schedule before going to sleep. Miguel will leave to work around in the morning, stay till afternoon and slave himself away till tiredness seeps itself into his bones or until you nag him to sleep. Whereas for you, you just kind of… woke up one day for a lack of better words, not how Miguel does though, you don't get tired, you don’t need to rest. Sure, you could overworked your system, you “sleep”, but sleep for you was when you weren’t being useful to Miguel, it’s almost like how you’ve read up how humans experience sleep, expect when they’re minds become free to dream about whatever their hearts long for during their R.E.M cycles, you just become enveloped in nothingness. There is no pitch blackness, no foggy stretch of infinite void for you to wander. Just that, nothingness, and just like humans forget 90% percent of what they dream of at night, you forget what it feels like when you are temporarily shut off. Despite living outside of that bubble of a timeline, you attempted to mimic it when you could, just to indulge yourself from time to time. For him, it felt exactly like those 730 days had passed, to you only a few rips of the fabric of time and space. Time was a man-made concept after all.

Miguel has noticed you’ve been using the word feel more. Despite your lack of a psyche, it felt like you were only growing more sentient by the day with Miguel’s help, on occasion encouraging you to come up with an original thought or opinion when he could coax it out of you.

“It has.” He continued as he finished his breakfast, placing the dirty dishes in the skin and the food items back where they belonged in the fridge. “And, I got you a gift.” Your face returns to that wonder, making Miguel’s lip curl up into a smile.

“You did?” You asked as you watched Miguel leave the kitchen with a response, waiting a moment to see he’d come back, going to zap to his location when he didn't, only to be met with the sight of his office door instead. Frowning as you wait for him.

The frown quickly became replaced with shock when he finally opened the door only to be met with the sight of you, it was you in the form of a robot. You slowly bring your hand out to go and touch it once he brought it through the doorway, your holographic form glitching through your new physical one as you pass it through your face. Bright wide eyes going from it to Miguel as he speaks again, a soft smile covering his features as he looked down at it with pride, your robotic form, eyes closed, head dropped down in front of you and arms hanging loosely by your side, the same way moments before you were first were booted up two years ago.

“You can use it around the house or whenever you feel like when you want to accompany me on non-Spider-Man related errands. Around HQ or during my patrols though it would be best if you stayed in your digital form.” You stayed quiet as your hand ghost over the fabric of your outfit, he even made sure to replicate the one you’d always wore. He cleared his throat as his eyes shifted to you. “Did you want to try it out?”

“Please.”

—

Taglist: @famouscattale @strawberryjuice9 @loser-alert @maomaimao @franceseca-the-1st

#miguel o hara fanfic #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara #miguel o’hara au #spiderman 2099 x reader #astv miguel #astv spiderman 2099 #miguel spiderverse #miguel fanfic #miguel ohara #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel x reader #miguel ohara x ai reader #spiderman 2099 fanfic #miguel ohara spiderman #spiderman 2099 spiderverse #spiderman 2099 #miguel spiderman #Miguel O’Hara fanfic

[kelcemenow]

Drive Me Crazy - Chapter 2.

Pairing Travis Kelce x Reader

Words 1661

Warnings Strong language, but not much and a wee bit of flirting.

Huge thank you to the Anon who sent this in! They had such amazing words to say about my writing which I massively appreciate and then to top it off, had an incredible request for me! I only have experience with mechanics in the UK, so I've tried my best with this one! "I just recently got interested in Travis K. X reader stories and wanted to let you know, I read all of yours as quickly as I could. They are so well done and I couldn’t help but laugh/giggle and feel through each word you typed out. You’re doing amazing and I’m so glad to have stumbled onto your page. If you have any space for a request, I’d be curious about what Trav would think about having a military (like fighter pilot) or engineer or mechanic girlfriend. I see a lot of stories with him paired with models/singers/social media individuals (which are phenomenal!) but just wondering how he would be with a more tomboy like girlfriend!"

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

The dialling tone rang loudly in your ear for a few seconds as you wedged the office phone between your head and left shoulder. You typed up a couple of notes on the computer when the other end of the line picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it that Mr Kelce? It's Y/N from KC Auto repairs." You said, checking your notes.

A deep voice laughed, "Hey, yeah it's Travis. You can call me Travis."

"Oh, okay Travis. I had a look at your car and there is a problem with your combustion chamber. You see, vehicles need the right amount of air and fuel to mix and then-"

"Woah woah, you lost me at combustion." Travis said, "Just tell me, is the car a goner?"

You giggled, "No, you just need new spark plugs. It's around $250 including labour."

You could hear him sigh down the line, "Oh! That's fine then, do what you need to do."

"Okay, sure thing. I'll be finished with it by 4pm. Are you able to come and collect around then?"

There was a short silence, "I've got a crazy day. I got a couple of things to figure out first, I don't know if I'll be around."

You checked your schedule in the large leather bound diary in front of you, "Well, I'll be in the shop late working on some other cars, so if you drop by anytime before 7, I should still be here."

"Awesome, I'll stop by!"

"Great, catch you later." You placed the phone back onto the receiver and quickly jotted down in your diary details to remind yourself to replace Travis' spark plugs.

The office door opened and the noises of the shop floor grew increased for a second before they were muffled again as the door closed.

"Hey sport." You felt your Dad's hands on your shoulders, "Your headache gone yet?"

"Not really. I already got two cars to finish up, a service and now these new spark plugs for do for that GMC." You pointed your pen in the direction of Travis' car as you began to write out a worksheet.

Your Dad leant down across your shoulder, "I could do the GMC for you?"

"Dad no, Dr Martin said you had to take it easy." You covered the worksheet with your hand.

He swiped your hand away, "Oh come on, I'm fine! It's spark plugs."

You laughed until you noticed that his face had quickly changed when he caught sight of the sheet, "What's wrong?"

His once rosy cheeked complexion was now a ghostly shade of white, "Travis Kelce...you have Travis Kelce's car here?"

"Yeah, why?"

His eyes widened as he looked towards the shop floor, "His car is in my shop? The GMC, that's Travis Kelce's car?"

Your eyebrows lowered in confusion, "Yeah, he dropped it off this morning?"

"Oh man! Y/N, you gotta let me do it! The boys at the fishing lake aren't gonna believe this!"

"What is going on? Who is this guy?" Your voice was beginning to heighten in pitch.

Your Dad lifted his sweatshirt up to reveal a bright red jersey with the number 87 emblazoned on the front, "Travis Kelce is one of the greatest tight ends the Chiefs have ever seen!"

You rolled your eyes and turned back to your diary for the day.

"Which you would know if you ever watched football with me!" He poked you in the arm with his finger.

You tore off the worksheet from the pad, "If I give you this, will you stop shouting and making my headache worse?"

You Dad carefully took the paper from your hands and gently kissed the top of your head before dancing his way out of the office and onto the shop floor, Travis' GMC waiting in the corner of the garage.

______________________________________________________________

Glancing at the digital clock on the wall, you noted that it was 6.25pm. All of your colleagues had already left for the day, leaving you in the shop by yourself. You preferred working alone but your Dad's business had built up a good reputation in the city for being the best repair shop and it was always busy.

When you were younger, you had always preferred fixing your Barbie's houses to make them better as apposed to playing with the dolls themselves. As a teenager you could always be found in the workshop tinkering with tools and learning everything you could from your Dad. You started helping him in his shop during the summer and when you left school, he took you on and gave you a job. You saved every penny you could and when your Dad needed to take a step back from work, you bought into the business, running it alongside him.

You gazed up at the underside of the Ford that was lifted above you, squinting as the night drew in. The crackled radio played in the background and as you hummed along to yourself, the faint sound of footsteps seemed to blend into the music.

"Um...hello?"

You turned your head towards the direction of the deep voice, a silhouette standing in the doorway of the shop.

You squinted further, trying to make out any defining features but to no avail. "Karl, if this is you trying to scare the shit out of me, you gotta try harder than that." You shook your head and dropped your wrench down onto the floor, the sound of the metal hitting the cement loudly echoing in the vast room.

The figure stepped further forwards, his hands held up, "I'm sorry...it's Travis. I'm just here to pick up my car?"

You felt your cheeks flush red, "Travis? I am so sorry, that was really unprofessional of me."

"Hey, it's all good! Don't worry, I probably shouldn't have lingered in the doorway watching you."

Your mouth twisted to the side, "You were watching me?"

His eyes grew bigger, "Not in a creepy way. But now I've said that it wasn't in a creepy way, it sounds like it was in a creepy way."

You wiped your hands on your towel, smiling slightly as you listened to him struggle.

"I was just...impressed. Like I said earlier, I have no clue when it comes to shit like this." He looked around the room at the various tools and parts that were dotted around.

You slowly nodded your head, "Well, thanks...I guess?"

Travis scratched the back of his head and looked down at his feet, a clear indication that he was nervous. You took the opportunity to really look at him. He was wearing bright white trainers, dark wash jeans and a Louis Vuitton jacket with a white shirt underneath. He was so pristine and you were quite concerned that he wouldn't make it out of the shop without a smudge of oil on him.

"So, my car?"

You looked towards it, digging the keys from one of your many pockets, a couple of bolts coming out with them, "Uh yeah, my Dad took great pride in fixing your car. He's a big fan."

"Oh yeah? Well please, tell your Dad I said thanks!" He smiled before looking around again, "You on your own?"

You sighed, "Yeah, I got a few things to clear up on these babies and then I'll be done."

He unlocked his car and opened the door, pausing for a second before he turned back to you, "Wanna go for a drink?"

Your heart stopped for a beat or two and your chest tightened, a feeling you weren't used to. Men didn't usually ask you out, especially not at work. You didn't exactly make an effort to only be covered in grease all day and everyone knew that your Dad wouldn't be far away, meaning most potential dates kept you very much at an arms length. But here he was, an exception.

"I've still got some work to do." You looked down at your current appearance, "And I might not be down with the latest trends, but I'm pretty sure no one will let me in anywhere looking like this."

Travis smiled coyly, "So, is that a no?"

You winced at his hidden hurt, guessing he wasn't used to women turning him down, "Thanks...but no." Digging into your pocket, you retrieved his invoice, black fingerprints smudged across the paper.

As he reached to take the invoice, his large hand covered yours and you subconsciously held your breath, a fast heat rising to your face.

"No sweat, I might see you around anyway?" He jumped into his car, turning the engine on, "I'll wire you the money for the spark...things."

You nodded in acknowledgement, watching as he pulled away carefully out of the garage and into the night. You unclenched your shoulders and laughed to yourself, turning your attention back to the Ford.

______________________________________________________________

"A package? Who from?" You questioned.

Jordan shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I didn't open it."

"We never get packages."

You became slightly distracted as Jordan tugged at the bottom hem of his hoodie and pulled it up and over his head, his shirt lifting up slightly to reveal a peek at his toned abs. He threw the garment onto the floor beside him and gazed at you.

"Y/N?"

You blinked, "Uh...I'll go and have a look now."

You furrowed your brows, making your way towards the office and shaking your head on the way, exacerbated at yourself.

On the desk was a small brown package with no indication of who it was from. You ripped open the paper and carefully pulled out the framed photograph. It was a picture of Travis midgame, the ball safely clutched in his gloved hands and speeding towards the end zone. He had signed the corner of the photograph. You turned the frame over to see some slightly messy handwriting on the back.

"For your Dad."

You smiled at his kind gesture.

"Let me know when you want to go for that drink."

______________________________________________________________

Taglist @rd14 @dandelionwrites8 @keiva1000 @fantasywritersstuff @caelipartem @anacarangel @she-lives-in-her-dreams @kkrenae @kristencochefski1125 @countrygirl120983 @charmed2000 @nouis-bum @cixrosie @delicateearthquakellama @wordsaresimple-imnot @amylouwho9 @queenisa17 @talicat713 @luvvtrent @purecinnamonextract @savaneafricaine @caelipartem @beyxgrande @caitdaniels @ezgirl1108 @vir-tual @lightsoutstyles @macey234 @s294749w @kelcemesoftly @calirindo @livinginmyfantasies @bernelflo @secretmywritingfictionlawyer @killatravtramp @there-goes-thefighter @unicornblueberry @calirindo @tjkelce87 @kristinamae093 @kmc1989 @ajbird18 @triski73 @ctn26 @kgcaputo07 @abby-splace @bobthe-turmpetman29 @cedricbitch @jmamas92 @bellstwd @killatravsworld @marchmaiden @chimchimmarie @blackstabbath6 @fanficfanatic15 @jessiemariebarnes @mmb219 @vanwritesfan-fiction

#travis kelce x reader #travis kelce imagine #kelce x reader #nfl imagine #original story #travis kelce fic #travis kelce #travis kelce fluff #nfl fluff #travis kelce smut #travis kelce angst #nfl smut #nfl angst #nfl fic #kelcemenow requests

[luke-hughes43]

Stella Gets Hurt | Luke and stella

(part 2)

The long awaited part 2!

(all i really have to say to this is poor stella.)

Part 1

Stella’s POV

So I had the MRI a few days and my parents flew in last night. We are currently sitting at the doctor, waiting for him to come in and talk about the results. I’m very nervous. Luke is sitting with me and holding my hand to try to reassure me that it will be fine. 

The doctor comes in and introduces himself to us before asking me the standard questions. Afterwards, he pulls up my MRI to show it to us. He points out where it’s torn and then says, “So, I’m recommending surgery so that we can get you back on the field. I can book you for a month out, unless you’ll be going home to New York. Then I can reach out to former colleagues and old friends and see if they can squeeze you in?”

“Can you do it sooner? Unless, how long afterwards should I not travel?”

“Well, I want to give it a few weeks before operating. Just to give it a chance for the swelling to go down and to give you time to build the muscle. The earliest that I’m comfortable doing it is May 11. That’s almost 3 weeks from the time of tearing it so that’s the earliest I’m willing to do it.”

“How long until I’ll be able to travel after surgery?”

“I’d say a week. Or so.” He says. I look at my parents and then Luke before nodding. Luke takes me hand and I give it a squeeze, I then say, “So then can we just schedule it for the 11th. The sooner we do this, the sooner I can start playing again.”

“I’ll get you on the books for that morning at 8. I’m gonna say this Stella because I want to be straightforward with you. There is no guarantee that you will be playing next year. There’s no saying how long you’re recovery will be. I’m hopeful that you should be able to recover in time for the start of next season but I just don’t know.”

“I figured. Should I start physical therapy exercises with the trainers while I wait for surgery? Doesn’t building that muscle up before surgery help with recovery after the fact?”

“It does. Obviously take it easy and don’t do more than 30 minutes at a time but I’m comfortable with you starting those exercises. Any other questions for me Stella? Or mom and dad?”

My mom asks, “In your experience doing these surgeries, how long does recovery take for athletes like Stella that are in really good shape and very driven in their sport and in recovery?”

“I mean every patient is different. Even if the tear and repair end up being the same or similar, ever patient and athlete are different. Especially because sport is different. I’ve seen athletes recovery in as little as 6 months and I’ve seen others take upwards of a year. There’s really no knowing until she starts the recovery.”

“Ok.”

“How long should I use the crutches for before surgery?”

“Until you don’t need them. Once you feel comfortable walking without them. However I do want you to bring them the day of surgery. It will be a day surgery, should take about 45 minutes. We’ll keep you in post op until the anesthesia wears off. My office will be sending over more instructions the closer we get to surgery. Any other questions for me?”

I shake my head, I just wanna get out of here. Mom, dad, and Luke don’t say anything either. The doctor says, “Ok. I’ll see you on the 11th for surgery. Just take it easy for the next few weeks. Have a good day Stella.”

“Thank you.”

He nods and shakes my hand before shaking my mom, dad, and Luke’s hand. I let out a breath and stand up. Luke hands me the crutches and we leave the doctor’s office and head out to the car. Luke gets in the back with me while my parents are in the front.

I curl into Luke’s side the best I can and lean my head on his shoulder. I haven’t really said much besides asking questions and I still wasn’t even asking that much. Luke softly kisses my head and my mom asks, “Do you wanna grab something to eat honey?”

“Can we just go back to my dorm?” I ask quietly. 

My mom says, “Ok baby.”

The car ride back to my dorm is quiet. I don’t really say anything and neither does anyone else. We get back to my building and I just hobble my way back to my dorm. Luke follows behind me and so do my parents. 

Once in my dorm, mom asks, “Stella, honey. Are you ok?”

“Do I look ok mom? I just found out that I tore my knee to pieces after having arguably the best freshman year in NCAA History but I’ll have nothing to show for it because I won’t get to play in the playoffs. So no, I’m not ok.” I say practically sobbing.

Luke comes over and pulls me into his chest for a tight hug. My mom comes over and rubs my back to help calm me down. I choke out against Luke’s chest, “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize Stella.” Luke says softly. My mom chimes in, “You have nothing to be sorry for baby. You just got the worst news that you could imagine right now so do not apologize for being upset.”

I nod a little bit while tightening my grip on Luke. There’s a pause and a silence before my mom says, “Honey, me and your father are gonna go. We want to give you time to calm down and relax and then why don’t we go out to dinner tonight. The four of us.”

“Ok.”

“We love you honey. I’ll call you in a bit.” She says. She kisses my head and dad does too before the both leave. I stay where I am clutching Luke for dear life. He says softly while rubbing my back, “Do you wanna lay down? Ice your knee and take a nap?”

“Yea.” I say defeatedly. He just nods and lets go but not before he softly kisses me. He says when he pulls away from the kiss, “I love you so much Stella. This doesn’t change that. I’ll be here through the whole thing. I promise. We’re in this together.”

“I love you too Luke.” I mutter quietly.

He helps me get into bed and sets up my knee to ice it. He grabs my laptop and gets in bed with me and pulls me into him. He sets up a movie on my laptop for us to watch. I’m just glad that I’m already ready for my finals this week. Like if I hadn’t started studying 3 weeks ago for finals then I’d be freaking out. The timing of this is awful considering in the next 3 weeks I have 6 finals, Big Ten’s, and the NCAA tournament. This is just one big nightmare. Thank god for Luke, he is my knight in shining armor and the biggest blessing of my life.

~The Day of Surgery~

So today is surgery day. I’ve been off the crutches for like a week which is good and my trainer said that he liked the progress I was making before surgery. My mom flew back in for surgery and Luke is coming too. Luke is holding my hand and has been the whole ride to the hospital which is making me feel a little better. I lean my head on his shoulder and he kisses the top of it. 

“You ok Stella?”

“I’m just nervous.”

“That’s ok baby. It’s gonna be fine.” He says reassuringly. Eventually we get to the hospital and check in. They take me to where I’m supposed to go and Luke and my moms tay with me as long as possible. I hold his hand the whole an occasionally squeeze it for some reassurance. Just before I have to head back, Luke says to me, “It’s gonna be ok Stella. You’re gonna do great and I’ll be here when you wake up sweet girl. I promise. I love you.”

“I love you too Luke.” I say and both him and my mom smile before they have to leave. The nurse takes me back and to the operating room and on the way there she asks, “So I’m assuming that’s your boyfriend?”

“Yea, his name is Luke.”

“You guys are cute. How long have you been together?”

“It will be 2 years this July.”

“That’s great. It’s good have a good support system like that when you have surgery. You play softball right?”

“Yea, I’m a freshman here at umich. I tore my acl during a game.”

“That sucks. I’m sorry. But Dr. Smith is one of the best so hopefully you recover in no time.”

“Hopefully.” I say with a small smile.

I get taken into the operating room and then put under for surgery. 

Luke’s POV

Stella went back about an hour ago for surgery. Me and her mom are getting restless. Her mom says, “It means a lot to me that you’re here Luke. And to Stella.”

I smile softly, “I wouldn’t be anywhere else. I mean she’s my best friend and she needed me so I’m here. Like when she scheduled the surgery, I made sure that I kept today free so that I could be here. I love her Mrs. Zegras and I knew that I needed to be here.”

“I know. And she loves you too. You make her so happy. I’ve never seen her this happy before Luke. I honestly think that you are the one for her.”

“I certainly hope so. I can’t imagine anyone else. Like when I think about my future in new jersey playing for the devils, she’s the one I think of coming too after long roadies or just bad games. Granted I’d never expect her to uproot her whole life just for my hockey career but every time I picture my wedding or having kids or signing some big contract, she’s the one I think of.”

“That’s comforting. I know she thinks the same way.” Her mom says. I smile and before I can say anything, I get interrupted by the nurse, “Family of Stella Zegras?”

We both stand she comes over with a smile. She say, “Stella is out of surgery. Everything went great, she’s still asleep but she should be awake soon. Fair warning, she might still be feeling the pain meds when she wakes up. The doctor will be in at some point before he discharges her to go over a couple things but I can take you to see her if you’d like.”

We both nod and follow her to Stella’s room. Stella is still asleep like the nurse had said but she looks as beautiful as ever. I press a soft kiss to her forehead and sit next to her. I carefully take her hand and hold it while I wait for her to wake up. 

She starts to stir a little bit and so I give her hand a soft squeeze and smile while she opens her eyes. I say softly, “Hey sweet girl. How you feeling?”

“Hi lukey.” She slurs a little bit. 

She’s honestly probably still high on pain meds. I smile at her and let her wake up a little bit. I say softly, “Hi Stella. How you feeling sweet girl?”

“I’m tired.”

“I bet. You can go back to sleep if you want. Your mom and I will be here when you wake up. Just rest baby.” I say with a smile. She nods and closes her eyes again. I smile and brush the hair out of her face. She sleeps for like an hour before waking up again, “Luke?”

“Hey stella. I’m right here baby.”

“My knee hurts.” She whimpers. My heart breaks seeing her like this. I squeeze her hand lightly and say, “I know sweet girl. I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”

“Kisses?” She says with a pout. I smile and kiss her softly. She smiles and says, “Can you cuddle with me?”

“Sure baby.”

I get in next to her on the side that she didn’t have surgery on. She cuddles into me instantly and let’s out a soft sigh. The doctor comes in shortly after and says, “Surgery went well Stella. Hopefully we’re able to get you back on your feet soon. There’s a prescription for PT written for you in your file, I’d say start in about a week. We’re prepping all of your post op instructions for the next few weeks and I’d like to see you in 2 weeks. Any questions?”

“When can I go home?”

“Soon. The nurses are getting started on the discharge paperwork. So hopefully within the hour. This is the first step in getting you back on the field Stella, you got this. I’ll see you in a couple weeks.” She nods and he leaves. 

Stella’s POV

I cuddle back into Luke and listen to his heart beat. He kisses my head and says, “Hey, I’m gonna be here every step of the way through recovery. you’re not alone in this battle Stella. I promise.”

“I know.” I say softly. Luke leaves a kiss to the top of my head and I just take in the sweet moment. Even though I’m in a hospital bed after having surgery, having Luke here with me makes it 100 times better and helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel.

#luke hughes #umich hockey #stella zegras

[dawninlatin]

Crying in the IKEA parking lot

a feysand modern au one shot written for @officialfeysandweek2023

Feyre is having an emotional breakdown in the IKEA parking lot, but luckily a handsome stranger comes to her rescue

Words: 2,2k | Masterlist | AO3 Link

Feyre had experienced many low points in her twenty-two years, but crying in the parking lot of IKEA had to be one of the lowest.

To be fair, she was having a pretty shit day, a shit year, even, but that didn’t make her feel any better as she stared at the scratch on the shiny, expensive-looking car parked next to hers.

A scratch that was one hundred percent her fault.

She let out a pathetic sob as her mind replayed the moment when she’d been too busy cursing at the furniture she couldn’t fit in her trunk to notice that her cart was rolling away from her, straight into the other car.

There was no way she could afford to pay for the repair, especially not now, when she’d just spent the little money she had on a dining table and a single chair for her mostly empty apartment.

Feyre gave the package still sitting on the ground a kick in frustration. «Fucking useless piece of shit!»

«Are you okay? Do you perhaps need any help with that…?»

The voice startled her, and Feyre whirled around, suddenly facing the most beautiful man she had ever seen. He looked at her with a mix of concern and curiosity, his eyes so blue they almost seemed violet.

«I’m fine,» Feyre answered a little too quickly, plastering on a fake smile and pretending her face wasn’t all puffy and red. She’d gotten so used to telling this lie lately, it came on autopilot.

Unfortunately, the stranger wasn’t a complete idiot, and didn’t buy her lie. The few tears still running down her cheeks probably didn’t help either. «So crying in the middle of a parking lot is just something you do for fun?» The question was accompanied by a perfectly raised eyebrow. 

Smile dropping, Feyre replied, «No, it’s just-»

And that’s all it took for the floodgates to open once more. 

«I’ve had a really shitty time lately, and I just needed to get a table because I don’t wanna eat every meal sitting on the floor for the rest of my life, but then I came out here and I can’t get the fucking box in my car and then I accidentally scratched the car next to mine and I know I should be the better person here and leave a note but there is no way I can afford to pay for it to be repaired!» She was full-on sobbing again, choking out the words. 

When she’d managed to calm down a little, the crying reduced to sniffling, she looked up, surprised to find that the man still stood there. Feyre had expected her little mental breakdown to scare away the stranger, he’d only asked if she needed help, after all, but there he was, offering her a soft smile and a tissue. «So a really shitty day then?»

«Yeah,» Feyre replied weakly, wiping her tears.

«I wouldn’t worry too much about the car, though.»

«Why?» 

He smirked, and it made Feyre want to kiss his handsome face and punch it at the same time. She really should see a therapist or something. «Because if they can afford a car like that, the asshole can probably afford a repair as well.»

This time, when Feyre smiled, it was real. It felt good, after all this time.

«So, did you need any help?» the guy asked, gesturing towards the package still on the ground.

Feyre had barely nodded before he strode over, and in a single, seemingly effortless move lifted it into her car. It annoyed her to no end, but she was also grateful, because it meant she could get out of here and forget this completely mortifying experience ever happened.

«Thanks, uhm…» She didn’t even know his name, she realized.

«Rhysand, though my friends call me Rhys,» he offered, grinning.

His name was Rhys, and he had dimples. How was it possible to be this attractive?

«I’m Feyre,» she replied, completely cool, calm and collected…probably.

«Well, it was nice meeting you, Feyre, darling. I have to go and brave the hell that is IKEA to get something for my stupid cousin, but I hope the rest of your day is better!»

Feyre actually chuckled this time, giving him a wave and a «Good luck!» as he walked away. She watched him in a totally non-creepy way until he’d fully disappeared into the large store, relishing the way she felt kinda good right now. One encounter with a kind human didn’t fix all her problems, but it gave her back some of the faith she’d lost in humanity long ago.

Still smiling, Feyre got into the driver’s seat, but she didn’t start the car. Instead, her attention was pulled to the passenger seat, and the abandoned sketchbook that’d been lying there for months now.

She sucked in a sharp breath at the sudden urge to draw again. The familiar itching in her hands could have brought her to tears if she’d had any left. Maybe she actually could feel like herself again, someday in the future…

Glancing at the car next to hers, Feyre contemplated her choices. There was no way she could afford the repair bill, but no matter how she thought about it, the only right thing to do was choose kindness. What if the rich asshole was having an equally shit day?

That didn’t mean Feyre couldn’t make them feel as sorry for her as possible, though. Maybe if they knew what a mess she was, it would get her out of paying.

So she rummaged around in her car until she found a pencil, then she picked up her sketchbook and started drawing for the first time in months.

-

Feyre groaned for what had to be the hundredth time as she struggled to assemble the table. Wasn’t this supposed to be easy?!

She knew she should just go to bed and try again in the morning, but she wanted to do this, wanted to show the universe she could manage on her own.

Who knew leaving your abusive ex when you had no job, no education, no friends and no contact with your family would be so difficult?

Just when Feyre was about to give up, her phone suddenly chimed, alerting her of a new text.

Anxiously, she picked up the phone, her stomach flipping as she read the text from an unknown number.

Is this Feyre Archeron?

It had to be the owner of the car, Feyre thought. After all, she’d ended up leaving a rather creative note describing what had happened, signed with her full name and number.

The note had consisted of eight comic panels, first showing an overly animated Feyre looking miserable in her empty apartment, then her looking miserable in IKEA, her emptying her pockets at the register, then swearing as she tries to get the package into her car. Next featured a few panels very dramatically portraying how the cart had rolled into the car completely on it’s own, ending with Feyre drowning all of IKEA in her tears.

To be honest, she was kind of proud of it.

Chewing her lip, Feyre typed back a simple «Yes».

Mere seconds later, it started ringing, that same number appearing on the screen. She nearly dropped it in panic, and honestly wanted to just chuck it out the window. She did not want to buy a new phone though, especially not if she had to spend thousands on repairing an ugly-ass car that wasn’t even hers.

Hands shaking, she pressed reply, bringing the phone to her ear. «Hello?»

«That comic is the best thing I’ve ever seen. I’m seriously gonna frame it and hang it on my wall.»

Feyre’s heart promptly stopped as she heard the deep, silky voice. She would recognize it anywhere, if only from the things it did to her body.

«Rhys?!» she choked out.

«I told you to not worry about the car.» She could hear the smirk in his voice, and for some reason it filled her with rage.

«That was your car?! Why the hell didn’t you say so? I made a complete fool of myself in front of you-»

«No you didn’t,» Rhys interrupted her. «And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to stress you out even more. I’m sorry if that was wrong of me.»

Well, that was awfully…charming of him. Feyre didn’t know what to do with all these feelings swirling inside her. Especially not after living on autopilot for so long.

«Just tell me how much I owe you,» Feyre sighed. 

«How about you let me help you build that furniture, and we’ll call it even?»

«What? That’s ridiculous!» There had to be something seriously wrong with this guy, if he thought getting to help her with her furniture would make them even.

«Text me your address, and I’ll be there in thirty. With pizza.» 

And then he just hung up.

-

Exactly thirty minutes later, Feyre opened her front door to find Rhys on the other side, pizza in hand and a panty-dropping smile on his face. «Hello, Feyre, darling.»

«Ugh, just get in.» She was too hungry to bother with pleasantries. 

He followed her into the kitchen area, setting the pizza on the counter. Feyre busied herself with getting a glass of water, trying to not let her embarrassment show as he took in the space. She really hadn’t been kidding when she’d said it was all empty.

Well, apart from the still-not-assembled table.

When she looked up, though, he was looking at her, not the empty space. 

«Just so we’re clear, I have no ulterior motives in doing this,» Rhys spoke, all serious. His gaze so intense she couldn’t look away.

«I’m not gonna deny that I find you very attractive, and I would love to take you on a date some day, but right now, what I think we both need the most, is a friend.» 

Her chest ached at the pain she glimpsed in his violet eyes, a fellow lost soul. Maybe he was just as lonely, just as broken, despite the easy smiles? Feyre smiled faintly, thinking that she wouldn’t mind a friend right now.

Then Rhys opened his mouth again, and the moment was ruined. «And we both know you find me incredibly handsome because duh,» he gestured to his face, and Feyre scowled, flipping him off.

«Are you even qualified to build furniture?» Feyre asked, all serious. If he turned out to be excellent at this she would lose it.

«Are you kidding me? My great-great-grandfather was Swedish. I’ll show you my family tree to prove it.»

«You’re such a prick!» Feyre exclaimed, smacking his arm, but she was laughing as she did it.

This was gonna end in disaster.

-

«You’re even worse at this than I am!»

«I swear, there has to be something wrong with this table!»

The puzzled expression on Rhys’ face as he sat with the final leg of the table in his hand and seemingly no where to put it made Feyre laugh so hard her stomach hurt a little.

They hadn’t gotten much further from where Feyre had been before Rhys showed up to help her.

«I don’t understand…There are four legs, and four corners, so why won’t it fit?!» 

«Let me have a look,» Feyre chuckled, leaning into Rhys’ space to study the instructions once more.

As she reached forward to turn back a page, her hand brushed against his, and she let out a quiet gasp at the contact. He was so close she could feel the warmth emanating from him. 

Neither of them moved for a moment, the tension between them nearly tangible. 

Then Feyre turned her head, slowly, finding his eyes already locked on her, his gaze intense. It would be so easy to just lean in and kiss him, taste him.

Surprisingly, a part of her wanted to. Feyre knew she could be oblivious, but one had to be a complete idiot to not feel the chemistry between them, the spark that had been there from the very first moment.

Her life was too much of a mess at the moment, though. She needed to get her head above water first, needed more time to heal the wounds from her previous disaster of a relationship.

So Feyre pulled away, swiftly ending the moment. She could sense a shift in Rhys as well, but where she���d expected disappointment, maybe even annoyance, she only found a quiet, patient calm, the soft smile on his face telling her he understood, and he was willing to wait, but if she one day was ready, he would be there.

«I may have lied when I said I was a pro at this…»

«I knew it!»

Feyre gave Rhys a smile of her own, so grateful that he didn’t make things awkward after her subtle rejection. She hoped he could see the words she couldn’t voice quite yet.

I want to, I really do, but I’m not ready.

I haven’t had this much fun in ages.

You’ve made me feel alive again.

Having him as her friend would have to be enough.

For now.

A/N: don't ask about the header i was feeling creative today...

ANYWAY I have returned from the dead (I just started college) to give you this:):) I also actually had a beta reader this time, so kudos to my roommate! I'm sorry for making you read this and watch glee with me at the same time<3<3<3 Feel free to reblog, leave a comment or drop by my ask box, I love attention:)

Taglist: @ireallyshouldsleeprn @rowaelinismyotp

I keep a separate taglist for each ship, so let me know if you want to be added to any of them!

#feysandweek2023 #feysand #feyre x rhysand #feyre archeron #rhysand #feysand fanfiction #feysand fluff #acotar #a court of thorns and roses

[sitp-recs]

Hello Liv, hope you are well ❤️ Thank you for the amazing work you do, I am so glad I started following you.

I am struggling a bit at the moment, and was wondering if you had some cozy drarry to recommend? Could be hurt/comfort or anything else, but preferably not to explicit. If you know of some where either of them is dealing with figuring out they are asexual that would be great, but I haven't really found many fics with this before, so no worries if you don't.

Again thank you so much for all that you do, I really appreciate it ❣️

Hello darling, I’m sorry to hear it’s been a rough time for you 🫂 here are some of my favourite comfort fics that I’m always revisiting to lift my spirits. All of them are T-rated, except for Nice Things (M). I hope they help! Take care 💜

Ace Drarry:

Glowing by @cavendishbutterfly (10k)

Harry's lived alone and vampiric in his cottage for ages, until a long-lived Draco Malfoy suddenly shows up to answer an advertisement Harry had practically forgotten he'd put in the Prophet.

Passion Cake by @icmezzo (19k)

It’s all about desire. (Harry orders a magically enhanced cake from a chic London bakery, and from there it all goes to hell in a cake tin. Also, will someone please tell Harry what Passion Cake is?)

Little Deaths and How to Avoid Them (or Draco Malfoy's Guide to Stop Dying and Start Living Instead) by nerakrose and dustmouth (96k)

Malfoy is way too interested in coroner reports for somebody who's definitely not looking for ways to die, Harry wants to be friends with him, and Ginny wants to break up with Harry.

Misc:

Waiting for that Feeling by @sorrybutblog (4k)

Draco Malfoy has a car and Harry Potter is on the case! Featuring Muggle car repair, a road trip to Cornwall, and falling in love in a Ford Fiesta.

Thermodynamic Equilibrium by @dorthyanndrarry (5k)

Harry's far too hot. Draco's always cold. And somehow against all odds, together they create a perfect equilibrium.

Life goes not backward by @shealwaysreads (9k)

Harry still isn’t used to gifts, but this one is different. A story of coming home, finding safe ground, and the wild courage of putting down roots.

warmest part of the winter (orphaned, 11k)

It’s not even a balcony, it’s just a window with a bit of a ledge, and Draco’s read Shakespeare anyway, he knows how this one ends.

How We Throw Our Shadows Down by thistle_verse (14k)

Draco has finally found the perfect, rare piece to complete his collection. The only problem is that the item belongs to Harry Potter, the last wizard on earth Draco wants to ask another favour from.

The Snitch-Maker by Omi_Ohmy (21k)

Draco is content with his Snitches, with the tap tap tap of his hammer, and the tiny gears and sharp scent of metal in his workshop - until one day Harry Potter appears, asking for help to solve a rash of Snitch-tampering in the Quidditch world.

With Great Yawns and Stretchings by sugar_screw (22k)

The coffee is very good. Really. And the cats are so cute. That's why Harry goes so often.

Nice Things by aideomai (M, 22k)

The first thing that happened was Theodore Nott came back from France.

Doing the Lambeth Walk by @blamebrampton (26k)

There are only three traditional choices for the cashed-up hero after victory. Harry Potter is too young to settle down and provide the wizarding world with a happy ending, and has too acute a sense of humour to spiral downwards into a spectacular flame-out. That leaves a life of good works.

Follow the Water by @xanthippe74 (38k)

Harry Potter’s life is fine. Maybe a little dull and predictable, but he shouldn’t complain about that, right? When he unexpectedly finds himself at Luna’s house one afternoon, Harry gets invited to join the secret wonderland that she’s creating with a surprising group of friends.

Like Lightning at Your Fingertips by potterwatch (43k)

The problem with living with another insomniac is, eventually, they find out you’re one, too. When Harry and Draco return for their eighth year, they think they’ll see very little of each other. Then McGonagall assigns them to room together. And the castle starts breaking. And there’s that thing with Potter’s magic.

A Room Up There (And You In It) by @the-starryknight (59k)

When Preservationist Draco Malfoy was assigned to work on Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, he was excited to delve into the gorgeous Black family antiques. His excitement quickly ended when something in the House decided it did not like his presence one bit.

Art:

Going Postal by dustmouth

So Draco and Harry sort of maybe have a bit of a thing going. Which is all fine and good, but would probably be more effective if they managed to be on the same continent for more than five minutes at a time.

#asks #anon #Drarry reclist #comfort reads #ace drarry

[tierneysodegaard]

Burn Toast - Max Verstappen x Reader

Max Verstappen x female!reader

Requested? Yes/No

Anon: soft max absolutely head over heels in love with his gf cooking him dinner (he wants to help but he sucks so she just makes him sit on the couch. he loves to watch her though) request because I am just feeling things.

Word count: 1K

Warnings: fluff, swearing

—

Max Verstappen may be one of the greatest drivers of our times, he might have won a World Championship and he might drive cars around a track at speeds no sane person would even dare to attempt but there was one thing he couldn’t do and that was cook. The man could burn water if you let him. No matter how many times Max would read through a recipe he would always find a way to mess things up.

A prime example would be your anniversary. He had time in between races and was home all the time whilst you, unfortunately, had to work. Max thought he would cook the pair of you a three-course meal. By the time you walked through the door the house was nearly on fire, smoke covered your living room and to think he was cooking spaghetti. The pair of you ended up ordering in and sitting on your apartment balcony with blankets wrapped around you both so you didn’t get cold. 

Currently, Max was sulking, he was standing behind you as he watched you cook, begging to help.

“Surely there’s something I can do to help -”

“Go and sit down, it won’t be long.” You replied as Max pressed his chest against your back, wrapping his arms around your waist before kissing your cheek. 

“Please…” 

“Max you can’t even cook toast without burning it -”

“A lot of people burn toast.” He craned his head to the side, looking at you. “That’s very common -”

“Not when I leave the toaster on the lowest setting as a precaution.” You gave him a sly smile in return. “Look why don’t you just go and sit down in the front room and it’ll be ready before you know it. It’s only a pasta bake not a meal for Gordon Ramsey.”

“Could I not just stir the pasta?”

“Remember what happened last time you tried to cook pasta?” You arched your brow at him. The pair of you held one another's gaze for a while before Max eventually gave in. Rolling his eyes he huffed and let go of your waist. 

“Fine, I’ll go sit down.” Your apartment was open plan so he was able to see you from the kitchen which made him slightly happier. The threw himself down on the sofa, glancing at whatever rubbish was on the TV before turning his head to watch you again. “You’re so pretty.” He smiled, resting his chin on the head of the sofa. “You know I should be doing all the work -”

“How’d you work that one out?” You turned your head to look at him as you spoke. 

“Because I’m off work -”

“Well, that’s technically not true.” You started to drain the pasta. “Because the season ends in a few months, not in the middle of June.”

“Yeah but I’m not racing now.”

“You will be on Friday.” You winked before mixing the pasta with the sauce and everything else you were adding to the bake. “Besides you can’t cook to save your life so…”

“Then I’ll wash up -”

“You do that anyway.” 

“You know I will learn to cook one day.”

“That’s an odd way to say ‘y/n I’ll order us food and plate it up and pretend I made it’.”

“I did that once!” He called out, a smile on his face as you topped the pasta with cheese before putting it in the oven to melt. “That was a one-time thing!”

“Twice actually, remember when your mum came over and you ordered in a five-course meal and told her that I made it and now she thinks I’m some sort of critically acclaimed chef?”

“Technically that wasn’t my fault.”

“And who’s fault was it then?”

“Yours -”

“How’s it my fault?”

“You got out of work late!”

“Well sorry not all of us get to drive cars around a track for ridiculous amounts of money.”

“I’ve never heard you complain about the amount of money I make.” He winked. 

“Well… it comes in handy for emergency repairs like when you nearly burned the house down and there was so much smoke damage we needed to redecorate the entire kitchen and living room -”

“I didn’t know you needed a lot of water I thought you just needed a little, how was I supposed to know the spaghetti would catch on fire and nearly burn the place down?”

“You never fail to amaze me Verstappen!” You called back to him as he got off the sofa, waltzing into the kitchen as he poured himself another drink. 

“Isn’t that a good thing?” His hands went to your waist again but this time spinning you around so you were facing him. He slowly moved your body so you hit the counter behind you, trapped between it and Max. 

“To an extent.” You whispered as he ducked his head down to meet his lips with yours. His hands moved to cup your jaw as he deepened the kiss which was full of love. Your hands tugged on his shirt slightly making him smirk against you before pulling back and letting his thumb trail against your bottom lip.

“How did I get so lucky?” His sky-blue eyes gazed into yours as he spoke. You smiled at his words, staring back at him. “I love you.”

“I love you too Max.” You kissed him again and this time he kissed back with some force. Grabbing the back of your thighs he spoke. 

“Jump.” You did as he said, jumping into his arms as he set you down on the counter, his hands finding their way under your shirt. “Fuck… such a pretty girl…” 

“Max…” 

“Shh… save your voice for when you scream it in bed tonight.” He smirked at his own cocky remarks as he started to kiss up to your neck. 

“Max as much as I’d love to be fucked on the counter right now I’d rather not burn the food -”

“Can you even burn cheese?” He suddenly pulled back, confusion in his eyes. 

“Anything can be burned when you’re in the kitchen.” 

#max verstappen x reader #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen x you #max vertsappen imagines #max verstappen #f1 imagine #f1 blurb #f1 x you #f1 x reader #f1

[persephonewritessometimes]

me and the devil / unsub!hotch x reader / chapter four

Summary: Hotch gets called on a case and has no one to watch Jack. Y/N volunteers and finds herself as a babysitter for a few days. [exposition building!]

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x AFAB Reader

Word Count: 8141

Warnings: MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY, ANATOMY TERMINOLOGY, CHILD BIRTH [not too graphic but I will give a warning and a following summary for those who don't want to read it!], MENTIONS OF DEAD PARENT, MENTION OF BEING ABANDONED BY A PARENT one use of fuck, domestic!reader, jack is too cute for his own good

Key: y/n = your name

Author's Note: jesus fuck i'm so sorry i didn't get this out sooner!! finals wrecked my motivation and i hate plot buildingXD hopefully you guys enjoy, i've got some fun things planned for this story coming up!

me and the devil series masterlist

This work is meant for readers aged 18 and over. You are responsible for your own media consumption.

I got the call that my car had been repaired and was ready for me to pick up the morning after I made Hotch spend the night. We coordinated with Morgan to make sure all the cars got back to where they needed to go and I no longer had to rely on Hotch’s decommissioned SUV to get me places. I would lie if I say I don’t miss it though - I felt like a badass secret agent in that car. I ended up having to skip Morgan’s self-defense class on Saturday due to Tia having a boyfriend emergency, well, now an ex-boyfriend emergency, and because of that, I was busy all weekend. I promised Hotch I would go to the next one, knowing he’ll hold me to it.

I haven’t seen Hotch for over a week now, but he texted me and let me know that they had been called on a case halfway across the country so he doesn’t know when he’ll be back. I’m disappointed, but I know Hotch has to work just like everyone else. It’s a dull weekend at the club due to poor weather - I didn’t even want to go because it was so dreary. I go to bed early Sunday night, exhausted from work and school. My phone blares in my ear the next morning - someone’s calling me. What the hell? I’m disoriented, as I furrow through my blankets to find my phone, and when I finally get ahold of it, I see that it’s Hotch. It’s unusual for him to call me this early, and a glance at the clock tells me it’s just before 8:00 AM.

“Hello?” I say into the phone, voice scratchy from sleep.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry to ask you for this, but we just got called on another case and Jess is in California this week and I have no one to watch Jack. I’ll pay you well, I just need someone to watch him for a couple of days. I’m so sorry.” He’s rambling and it’s kind of amusing to hear his stoic facade disappear for a second.

“Hotch, slow down, it’s fine. I don’t mind watching Jack, I like kids.” I say, and I can hear him let out a sigh of relief.

“You just saved my life.”

“Well, if I’m counting right, that’s the second time I’ve saved your life,” I say, smiling.

“You’ve got me there. I’ll text you the address. Oh, and you can bring Cujo, Jack loves animals.” He hangs up the phone and a few seconds later my text tone chimes, and sure enough, he’s already sent me the address. I rub my eyes for a few seconds. I’m usually not awake at this ungodly hour. When I’ve collected myself a little bit and feel more coherent, I get out of bed, Cujo cocking his head as he looks at me, like he’s also confused as to why I’m up this early I laugh a little.

“It’s okay boy, we’re just gonna go stay somewhere else for a few days.” He huffs and puts his head back down. I grab the duffel bag from underneath my bed and throw in a couple of outfits and a pair of scrubs haphazardly. I pack up my toiletries in the bathroom and grab Cujo’s food and travel dishes from the kitchen. Thankfully I didn’t unpack my backpack after studying at the library yesterday, so I don’t have to worry about packing that as well. My clinical bag is also waiting by the door. I call Cujo to the front door and he whines but gets out of bed to join me. I slip him into his travel harness and leash before slinging my backpack over my shoulders and grabbing my overnight bag and clinical bag. I feel kind of stupid trying to lock my door with what feels like my entire apartment packed into my three bags. I slowly make my way down the stairs, mindful of the leash - I can see myself wiping out if I take one wrong move, and that would be embarrassing to have to explain to Hotch.

I get Cujo clipped in in the back seat and put my bags there too. I drive to Hotch’s house as quickly as the speed limit allows. He sounded so panicked over the phone and I know he thinks he’s inconveniencing me, but he’s letting me bring Cujo, so why would I be inconvenienced? I pull into his driveway right next to his SUV and get out of my car and wave hello to him as I go to get my stuff from the backseat. My backpack finds its way back onto my shoulders and I unlatch Cujo from his hook in the backseat and click the leash back on. He hops out of the car, surveying his new surroundings. I’m reaching to grab my duffel bag and clinical bag when a large hand grabs both of them before I can get to them.

“I’ve got them.” He says, chest very close to mine when I turn around and look up at him.

“Thanks,” I say breathlessly. I shut my car door and lock the car, following Hotch into the house.

“Jack’s at school right now, but the bus drops him off at 3:00 PM and picks him up at 7:50 AM. He does have the day off tomorrow, some kind of makeup snow day, and I was hoping to be here so I could spend it with him.” He trails off and I can tell that he’s embarrassed.

“Hotch, it’s okay, I don’t mind.”

“I already called the school so Jack knows you’re here. This isn’t really how I wanted you two to meet, but it’ll have to do.”

“How did you want us to meet?” His cheeks turn pink at my question and he deftly changes the subject.

“You have my number, call me if you need anything. I should be back late Wednesday night. Jack’s a sweetheart, so you should be fine.” I nod and he gives me a quick tour of the house, pointing out the guest bedroom, giving me a guide to the alarm system, and the garage door codes.

“One question.”

“Yes?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Are you a ‘no animals on the couch’ kind of person? Because that might be an issue.” He laughs, and says,

“Animals are welcome on the couch.”

“Good. Now get out of here, I know you have a flight to catch.” He hesitates, face torn, and I add quietly, “Hotch, it’s okay, I can do this, I want to do this. Go do your job - catch the bad guy.”

“I can’t thank you enough for doing this.” He presses a spare key in my hand, kisses my cheek, and is out of the door in minutes. I lock the door after him and slip the spare key next to my house key on my keyring. Hopefully, I won’t get them mixed up.

The house is very quiet now that Cujo and I are the only one’s here. I’m not usually a nosy person, but as the minutes drag on I feel the urge to explore the house getting stronger. I worry my lip for a few seconds, torn between respecting Hotch’s privacy and satisfying my curiosity, but I ultimately give in, padding around the house and checking it out with more attention. I steer clear of the master bedroom, having to set a boundary for myself, plus I know the room will smell like him - slightly minty with a hint of evergreen and something that’s just man, just him - and I know the smell would make what’s left of my rational thoughts flee my mind. I find my way into his study, the large mahogany desk imposing and clear of any papers. All the drawers are locked, but at least three hundred books are in the surrounding bookcases. I look at the titles, but most of them don’t catch my eye, just textbooks, studies, and other papers of that kind. What does catch my eye are the dozen Harlan Coben novels. I’m not much of a reader, what with school and work, but I used to read Harlan Coben novels when I had the time. I run my fingers over the spines, recognizing a few titles, but the majority are new to me. I chew on my lip debating if Hotch would care if I read one and conclude that he wouldn’t.

I pull The Innocent off of the shelf, tucking it under my arm and retreating from the office. I settle down on the plush couch, Cujo already asleep on it and open the book. I don’t put it down until a few hours later, and only because my stomach started rumbling. I dig around in my backpack for a piece of paper and tear off an edge, using it as a makeshift bookmark while I snoop in the kitchen. Hotch told me to help myself to anything, and this man splurges on his groceries. I finally settle on a DIY charcuterie board, having cut up a couple of types of cheese, some lunch meat, and fresh fruit. I grab my book from the couch and hold it open with one hand while I eat with the other. I’m sucked in - I can’t put the book down. I love mysteries and this one with an ex-convict as an accidental murderer has my full attention. I finish the book in the early afternoon and carefully place it back into its rightful spot in the study. I force myself to not pull another book down, knowing that I have to work on homework now.

“I’ll come back for you later,” I whisper to the books.

I check the time - I have two hours until Jack gets home, a perfect amount of time for me to get some homework done. I’m currently in my OBGYN rotation, and there’s so much information I need to know for my final, which is only two months from now. I lose myself in flashcards and textbook passages when I hear the unmistakable sound of a school bus. I scramble to get off the couch, having been buried in my papers. I walk towards the door and open it, leaning against the door frame as I watch Jack get off, wave bye to the bus driver, and run up the driveway with a huge smile on his face. I smile to myself as he gets closer and then slows down.

“Hi, Y/N! I’m so excited to meet you!” He says, out of breath. 

“I’m excited to meet you too, Jack.” I move out of the way and he rushes inside. Cujo, having heard the commotion, hops off the couch and trots towards the small boy.

“YOU HAVE A DOG?” He exclaims, dropping his bag in the entryway as Cujo greets him with sniffing and wet kisses. Jack giggles when Cujo licks his cheek and he’s petting him eagerly.

“His name is Cujo, and it looks like he likes you!” I say, smiling.

“Well, I love him!” Jack pets him for a few more moments before saying, “Wait! I think I have a tennis ball in my room, can I play out back with him?”

“Of course!” Jack runs off to his room and I kiss Cujo on the head and whisper,

“Good boy.” Jack comes back seconds later and we head outside to the fenced-in backyard. Cujo sprints around the yard - we don’t have a space like this in my complex. Jack starts to play fetch with Cujo and his giggles every time Cujo drops the ball at his feet are infectious. I sit in one of the chairs on the back porch - the weather has taken a turn for the better today, the sun shining bright and the weather is actually kind of warm. I find myself lost in thought and think about this house. It’s beautiful, yes, but I would think it’s a show home due to the pristineness. The only giveaway that someone lives here is the family pictures. The air inside the house is stale, I noticed it as I was studying. As if there’s no life in the house.

“Jack, I’m gonna open some windows if that’s okay,” I call to him, “Does your dad ever open the windows?”

“Not really!”

“Well, I’ll open up a couple, get a nice cross breeze in here.” I head inside, always keeping an eye on Jack, and open some windows. They creak and groan from disuse, but even with just a few open the house feels more inviting. After about twenty minutes, Jack comes back inside, Cujo trailing behind him and I fix him a snack when he says he’s hungry. He’s watching me, and I’m watching him, both of us trying to look busy. He reminds me of his father - eyes always alert and watching for something.

“What do you do?”

“I’m a nursing student.”

“So you heal sick people.”

“Well, I try to.”

“That’s really cool! How do you know my dad?” I freeze a little bit, not sure what to tell him.

“We…met at a bar,” I fib a little, “He actually helped me get away from some bad guys.”

“Yeah, he’s cool like that,” Jack says with a smile.

“You got any homework?”

“Yeah. Math. It’s confusing though.”

“Want some help? I mostly do medication conversions these days, but I’m sure I could help a little bit.”

“Yeah!” He runs off to grab his backpack from the entryway and comes back to the kitchen table, pushing his bowl away and pulling out a paper. I glance at it, and luckily it’s something I do know - addition and subtraction. “Once I find the answer it makes sense, but sometimes I get confused on the subtraction. Especially the double digits.”

“Hmmm, let’s see here.” I watch him struggle with the first problem, not having enough fingers on his hands to get to the correct answer. “I have an idea.” I open a bunch of drawers until I find something I saw earlier. I pull out a jar of peanuts and open them. Jack laughs.

“What are you doing?”

“Just watch! Okay, look at the first problem, 12 - 5.” I dig out a handful of peanuts and put them on the table. “Okay, count out 12 peanuts.” Jack laughs a little but does it anyway. “Great, now if you were to take away 5 more peanuts, what would you have?” Jack grabs five of the peanuts and removes them from the pile. He counts them and shouts,

“Seven!”

“That’s right! Let’s do the next problem.” By the end of the worksheet, he’s got a better grasp on the idea, and in the last three problems he doesn’t even use the peanuts to solve the problems. “Good job!” I say and he holds out his hand for a high five. I smack it lightly, and he says,

“You have a weak high five.”

“Do you want a do-over?” I say.

“Yes!” I only hold back a little bit this time and he whoops when our hands meet. “Now that’s a high five!” He shakes his hand a little bit afterward, and I feel bad about it. “Do you have homework too?”

“Yes, my homework is never ending, it seems. But I graduate this semester, so no more homework after that!”

“Do you need help with your homework?”

I laugh a little, “I don’t know if my homework is appropriate for you, buddy. I’m learning about mommies and babies right now. Gross stuff.”

“Ew! I don’t want to look at that!” I laugh again.

“How about I put on a movie for you and I’ll do my homework while you watch it? Is Star Wars okay?”

“I love Star Wars!”

“Good! Let me get it in the DVD player. Which one do you want?”

“Return of the Jedi!”

“Good pick, that’s my favorite one.”

“You like Star Wars?” He looks at me with wide eyes.

“Of course! My dad used to watch them with me all the time.” I walk into the living room, grab ‘Return of the Jedi’ from the entertainment center, and put it in the DVD player. It takes me a few seconds to figure out how to get the TV on the right setting, but I eventually figure it out. Jack sits on the couch, and Cujo gets up on it as well, putting his head in his lap. I watch as Jack watches the movie, absentmindedly petting Cujo on the head, who’s fast asleep. I bury myself in my studies again, knowing I have about an hour and a half to do so.

I’ve gone through my flashcards so many times it feels like I can’t stuff any more information in my brain. I finally sigh and paperclip them back together and set them to the side. I turn my focus to the movie - Luke Skywalker has just turned himself in to be taken to Emperor Palpatine. I watch the rest of the movie with Jack and when it’s done, he looks at me and asks,

“What’s for dinner?”

“That’s a great question. What are you hungry for?” He thinks for a couple of seconds.

“Chicken nuggets?”

“Great pick. I’ll go get them in the oven.” I gather up my things and put them back in my backpack - Jack doesn’t need to see a diagram of a woman spread eagle and crowning, that might haunt him for years.

I’m in the kitchen getting dinner ready, also throwing some frozen french fries I found in the freezer on the sheet pan. I’ve just put them in the oven when I hear from behind me,

“Are you my dad’s girlfriend?” I blink a few times before turning to face him.

“Um, we’re just friends.”

“Do you want to be my dad’s girlfriend?” He asks, widening his eyes. Oh come on I haven’t even asked myself that question yet!

“I…don’t know,” I answer truthfully. I don’t want to lie to him again.

“Well, he likes you.” I can’t hide the surprise that flashes across my face. The curiosity to know exactly what Hotch has mentioned about me is too strong and I find myself asking,

“And how do you know that?” The words are out before I can stop myself.

“He told me he met a really pretty girl who makes him laugh. He said that you’re captivating and he can’t stop thinking about you.” My cheeks are boiling.

“He told you this?” Jack turns sheepish at that and shakes his head no.

“I overheard him talking to Uncle Rossi about it.”

“Oh, so you were eavesdropping?” I say with a smile and his indignation makes me laugh.

“No! I was just listening!”

“Mhmm.”

“I swear! Don’t tell him I told you, he doesn’t even know that I know.”

“I won’t tell him, I promise.”

“Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise,” I say, wrapping my pinky around his and squeezing tight. He sits down at the table and watches me as I cut up some fresh fruit.

“I like you. You’re nice. And you like Star Wars.”

“Thank you. I like you too, you’re fun to be around.” I say back and he smiles. It’s quiet until the oven timer goes off and I use an oven mitt to get the sheet pan out. I let it sit for a few minutes, knowing that if I plate the chicken nuggets and fries now, I’ll burn my mouth, and Jack probably will too. Jack is impatient as we wait for the nuggets to cool down, asking every few seconds if they’re ready yet. After dinner, Jack gets in the shower and I close up the windows, the air already feeling much better inside the house. I take Cujo outside to use the bathroom and clean up after him. When I come back inside Jack is out of the shower and in dinosaur-print pajamas.

“Oh, I like your pajamas!” I say with a smile and he grins up at me. “I have dinosaur pajamas too!” His eyes widen and his mouth drops open.

“You? Have dinosaur pajamas?” I chuckle at his dumbfounded expression.

“Yes, I have dinosaur pajamas. They’re actually in my bag right now, do you want to see them?” He nods furiously and follows me to the guest room. I dig them out and show them to him. Pink and purple stegosaurus, velociraptors, and triceratops cover the top and bottoms, and he laughs when he sees them.

“You have girl dinosaurs!”

“Hey! Boys can like pink and purple too!” He’s laughing at my pajamas and I can’t help but laugh too. “Come on, let's get you to bed,” I say and throw my pajamas on the guest bed. He grumbles but listens to me, and when I tuck him into bed he says,

“Thanks, Y/N. See you in the morning.” He yawns and rubs his eyes.

“Goodnight, Jack. I’ll see you in the morning!” I almost trip over a toy truck making my way back to the door of his room, and I shut off the light and shut the door behind me. Now it’s my turn for a shower. I shower with efficiency, wanting nothing more than to climb into bed. My thoughts wander as I do so, and I wonder how Hotch feels about having such an involved job while also having Jack. I think it would be hard. I get out of the shower and went through my skincare routine before I slip into my pajamas and get in bed.

Tuesday morning comes quickly, and thanks to Jack having the day off we get to sleep in for a little bit. He finally pulls me out of bed around 9:30, and I complain the entire time, which he just laughs at. I make us french toast for breakfast, which Jack fervently declares his love for, and then get dressed. I have one lecture today, Adult Health 4, and it’s at eleven.

“Jack, I know you don’t have school today, but I have school today, so here’s what we’re gonna do. You’re gonna come to class to me, but we’re going to bring your portable DVD player and bring a movie or two, as my class is two hours.”

“TWO HOURS?” He exclaims. “For one class?” I laugh.

“Yes, college isn’t really fun.”

“I bet!” We get ready and I make sure everything that I need is packed and we have Jack’s DVD player with a pair of headphones. He grabs A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and we climb into my car. I make him sit in the backseat, as I don’t have a car seat for him and drive slowly to Stafford Hospital, where all of my classes are being held this semester. I park in the farthest lot, as is our rule since we are guests at the Hospital, and sling on my backpack. It’s unusually hot today, and sticky, and Jack starts to complain the moment his feet hit the asphalt.

“Y/N, please, will you carry me? It’s hoooot.” He whines.

“Jack, you’re six, I think you can walk.” He drags his feet and I concede. “Fine, come on. I hoist him up on my hip and he wraps his legs around me, resting his head in the crook of my shoulder. I want to curse but he’s being cute so I’ll let it slide. I wrap my arms around him, supporting him, and make the long trek to the hospital. Sweat is sliding down my temple when the doors slide open and I step inside. Jack sighs at the sudden cold air. “Think you can walk now, buddy?” He nods and I set him down, but he takes my hand as we make our way through the hospital and up to the second floor.

“It’s so bright in here!” Jack says, eyes wildly tracking all the people we pass. We make our way into the small lecture room, and I get Jack and me situated in two seats in the back corner.

“Y/N! Who’s your friend?” Jenna says, making her way over to us.

“I’m Jack!” Jack says with a grin, bouncing in his seat.

“Nice to meet you, Jack. I’m Jenna!” Jenna looks at me with raised eyebrows and mutters, “Do you have a kid we don’t know about?”

I chuckle, “No, he’s my…friend’s kid. I’m just watching him while his dad is out of town.”

“Well, you two must be really good friends,” Jenna says and winks at me, and my cheeks grow hot. Jack soon commandeers the attention of the whole class and he’s telling them all about playing fetch with Cujo yesterday. Dr. Pratt comes in shortly thereafter, and even she cannot resist Jack’s infectious energy. We start class ten minutes late because of it. I get Jack’s DVD player set up and his headphones plugged in and he’s contently watching Star Wars while I’m frantically taking notes on Dr. Pratt’s lecture and asking questions at every opportunity. Jack quietly asks for a snack about halfway through, and I’m glad that I keep a bag of Goldfish in my bag for emergencies. Thankfully, the pictures aren’t graphic today so I don’t have to worry about scarring Jack for the rest of his life. Class is over before I know it, and as everyone is packing up, I tell Jack I’ll be right back.

“Dr. Pratt?” I ask.

“Yes, Y/N? What can I do for you?”

“I’m really sorry about Jack. His dad didn’t have anyone else to watch him so I volunteered.” Dr. Pratt chuckles.

“Y/N, Jack was lovely, feel free to bring him again if you’d like. He was not a problem at all.” I let out a breath and thank her, making my way through the now almost empty room to pack my stuff up. Jack pauses his movie, yawns, and stretches, and I put his DVD player away.

“What do you say we get lunch, buddy?” I ask Jack as we make our way out of the hospital and into the humid air.

“Yes! Lunch lunch lunch!” He practically skips back to the car, I help him in, set my backpack in the passenger seat, get in the driver’s seat, and he’s suddenly quiet.

“Jack? You okay?” He looks shy as I glance back at him in the rearview mirror.

“Can we get McDonald’s?” He asks, his voice quiet.

“You know what, yeah, we can get McDonald’s!” He cheers and I smile to myself as I put the car in drive and make my way to the nearest McDonald’s. I get him a chicken nugget kid’s meal, as per his request, and I get my favorite meal from McDonald’s. Jack asked if we could get hot fudge sundaes, and I couldn’t resist, so those may have snuck into our order. By the time we’re done with lunch, it’s almost 2:00 PM, and Jack is falling asleep in his chair. “You need a nap?” I ask, and he furiously shakes his head no. I laugh, “Well, I think I need a nap, let’s get you home, okay?”

Sure enough, he falls asleep in the car on the drive home, not rousing as I gently carry him to his room. I run back to the car to get my backpack, not wanting it to get stolen from my car, and I put on a tank top and shorts, open a few windows, and take Cujo out back. I fall asleep in a plastic chair while sitting in the shade, and wake up when Jack shakes my arm.

“Y/N, wake up!”

“Huh? Oh, hi.” I say and rub my eyes. “What time is it?”

“Four o’clock!”

“Oh jeez, we slept for a long time!”

“Play legos with me, please?” I nod and stretch my stiff body as I get up from the chair. Jack drags his legos into the living room, we play for about an hour, Jack makes a Lego car, while I make a little house. My build looks shoddy and colorful, while Jack’s is more put together than mine.

The rest of the evening is quiet. I make dinner - frozen pizza this time - and afterward, Jack takes a shower, and I let him know the plan for tomorrow.

“So, you have to go back to school tomorrow.” Jack groans. “I know, it’s no fun. Your dad says the bus picks you up at 7:50, I’ll be up way before that, I have to go to clinical tomorrow so I have to get ready for that.” He looks confused.

“What’s clinical?”

“Oh! It’s hands-on learning. So I shadow a nurse in the hospital and they teach me the ropes. It’s really fun!”

“Cool!”

“Okay, so, I’ll see you off on the bus. My clinical gets out at 2:00, so I’ll be home before you get home.”

“Okay.” Jack yawns. I tuck him in.

“Goodnight, Jack.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.” This time when I leave, I make note of the toy truck so I don’t almost trip over it again. I take a quick shower after I lock the house up and close the windows. I lay out my scrubs for tomorrow, and make sure my clinical bag is packed and ready to go. I set my alarm for 6:30 AM, already dreading it, but I’m asleep soon after my head hits the pillow.

Wednesday morning is a blur. I’m frantically making breakfast, trying to eat it, let Cujo outside, then back inside, fill up his food dish and water dish, get Jack ready for school while also keeping an eye on the time, and by the time Jack gets on the bus I feel like I need a nap. I don’t have time for one though, as I’m out of the door by 8:00 AM.

-START OF CLINICAL DAY, THEREFORE MEDICAL TERMS AND CHILDBIRTH -

When I get to the hospital, I shuck my clinical bag over my shoulder and once again make the long trek from the back parking lot to the front entrance. The Labor and Delivery, or L&D, unit is on the third floor, and I swipe my badge to get in before I meet Dr. Anshaw in our meeting room. I’m shadowing Erin today, who’s a nurse practitioner and can deliver babies by herself if the need arises, and I get my shift change notes from her before meeting our patient in room seven.

“Angie? Is it okay if I bring in Y/N, my student nurse?” I hear Erin ask from inside the room as I patiently wait outside.

“Of course, bring as many students as you want!” Angie says with a laugh. I step into the room and introduce myself.

“Hello, Angie, my name is Y/N Y/L/N and I’m going to be your student nurse today. Can I please get your full name and date of birth?”

“Angie Lewis, January 8th, 1980.”

“Perfect,” I say as I check her wristband. “Do you know where you are right now?”

“Stafford Hospital. And it’s early spring.” She says, winking at me.

“You’re ahead of the game! On a scale of 1 to 10, one being no pain at all and ten being the worst pain you’ve felt in your life, where are you at right now?”

“Probably a six.”

“Erin, what stage is she in?” I ask as I turn to wash my hands in the sink on the wall.

“Almost to active labor. She was 5cm the last time I checked.”

“Angie, are we excited to meet the baby?” I ask and smile at her.

“So excited!”

“Are you a first-time mom?” 

“Second time!”

“So this one will be a breeze!” I wink at her and she laughs.

“Well, hopefully, my husband won’t pass out this time!” I laugh at that.

“Happens a lot more than you think!” I pull on a pair of gloves and look to Erin for reassurance. “Is it okay if I check your cervix, to see how dilated you are?”

“Go right ahead, sweetie.” She gives me a soft smile and it eases my nerves a little bit. I check her cervix.

“Almost at six! You’re about to hit active labor!” I discard my gloves and wash my hands again as Erin double-checks and affirms what I felt.

“We’ll be back in a little bit, Angie. Hit the call button if you need us!” Erin says, and I trail her out the door. “Very nice, Y/N, she’s comfortable around you.” I get sheepish at that.

“I just like what I do, that’s all,” I say and shrug, and Erin smiles at me before saying,

“Don’t downplay your abilities. You’re already a wonderful nurse.” I help her with some charting in the break room and about an hour later I’m knocking on Angie’s door to see how she’s doing.

“Angie, how are we doing?” I’m met with the sound of controlled breathing - her husband is currently coaching her through a contraction. I’m washing my hands and pulling on gloves as they finish.

“I’m okay. Active labor hit about ten minutes ago I think. Contractions are stronger and closer together, the pressure in my back is killing me.” She says. “Richard, can you put my hair in a braid please?”

Her husband jumps to her aid, pulling a hair tie off of his wrist and holding it in between his teeth as he braids her hair. Once he’s done I ask Angie if I can check her cervix again.

“Seven centimeters, you are moving along quite quickly, Angie!”

“Thank god, I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever.” She lets out a breathless laugh.

“Are we wanting an epidural?” I ask, discarding my gloves and washing my hands again. Angie shakes her head no. “Erin and I will be in a half hour. Use your call light if you need us or change your mind about that epidural, okay?” She nods, relaxing back on the bed, in between contractions.

Thirty minutes fly by, and Erin checks in on Angie, her contractions are about four minutes apart still, and she’s only 8cm dilated. Another thirty minutes go by, and Angie is now 9cm dilated and feeling a lot of pressure in her back and butt.

“Y/N?” Angie asks, wiping her forehead. “Will you stay with me? I’d feel better if I had a nurse here. I have a feeling it’s going to happen soon.”

“Of course, I’ll stay with you,” I say, pulling up a chair. Angie begins to distract herself, telling me stories of her other child, Lily, who turns four in a couple of months. She stops when the contractions hit, then resumes her stories. They seem to calm her down, and Richard chimes in now and then. It’s not very long after before Angie says,

“I feel like I need to push.” I jump up, press the call light, wash my hands, and put gloves on. Erin walks in.

“Angie says she feels like she needs to push.” Erin nods, and now it’s her turn to wash her hands.

“Go ahead and check her, Y/N.” I do as she tells me.

“10cm dilated and fully effaced. I can feel baby’s head.” I say. Erin nods, grabbing the sterile towels and blankets, and setting them up before paging the doctor on call.

“Y/N, you want to take the lead on this one?” I blink at her in surprise. I’ve never coached a woman through birth on my own yet. Erin just looks at me and I nod, situating myself at the end of the bed. I’ll move when the doctor gets here.

“I want to push,” Angie says.

“Do you want the stirrups?” Angie nods, and I swing them out, helping her legs get situated. “Dad, come and help me here.” Richard jumps up, already assuming his position on Angie’s right leg. Erin is on the other leg. “Erin, when is Dr. Rawlins going to get here?”

“He’s not answering his pager.”

“Are there any other L&D doctors on call?” Erin pauses and shakes her head. “Well, it looks like it’s just you and me, Angie.” She nods. “When you feel a contraction come on, I want you to take a deep breath in and hold it, bear down, and push until I tell you to let up, okay?”

“Okay, one’s coming on now.”

“Let’s do this, Angie, deep breath in. Hold it. Okay, push, push, push. Good! Let up and take a little break.” We do this for a few minutes, and the baby is moving, slowly but surely. The baby starts to crown and Angie insists that she can’t do it. “Angie, you’ve got this. You’re a strong woman, you can do anything. Come on, deep breath in, hold it, bear down and push! Yes! Head is out, good job Angie! Bear down for me again, and push!” My hands are ready and as Angie’s baby is delivered, I catch her newborn in my hands, rubbing her with a towel as she opens up her mouth and cries as she joins the world. Erin’s already pulling part of Angie’s gown down and when her baby is relatively clean, I carefully place her on Angie’s exposed skin. The baby continues to cry, and Angie and Richard start to cry as well.

“You did good,” Erin whispers to me. A little while later the cord is cut by Richard, and the placenta is delivered, and that’s when Dr. Rawlins decides to show up. Dr. Rawlins is notorious for never being where you need him. Erin and I exchange a look as Dr. Rawlins assesses the situation, gives his good wishes to the happy parents, and leaves again. Typical. We get Angie situated to spend some time with her new baby. Angie thanks us both profusely. “Hey, don’t thank me, Y/N did all the work!” Erin says with a smile. I get shy.

“What are you going to name her?” I ask.

“Felicity.”

“That’s beautiful!” Angie gives me a tired smile and Erin and I take our leave after cleaning up.

“So, what did you think, taking the lead?” Erin asks, grinning at me.

“Can I curse?” She lets out a laugh and nods. “That was fucking awesome.”

“Good. I mean it - you did well. Now you’ll have an adrenaline high for the rest of the day!”

And she’s right, I feel great the rest of the day, and before I head back to Hotch’s house, I check in on Angie one last time.

“Hey, Angie, I’m heading out for the day. Thank you for giving me the chance to learn from you today.” I say quietly, taking note of Richard and Felicity passed out on the makeshift couch bed.

“No, thank you, Y/N. You kept me sane.” She grabs my hand and squeezes it. “Thank you.

-END OF CLINICAL DAY, NOTHING GRAPHIC AFTER THIS! tl;dr - Y/N helps a woman give birth and she thinks it's really cool! -

I head out to the parking lot and back to my car, getting home around 2:30, with plenty of time to shower before Jack gets off the bus. I strip off my scrubs and throw them in Hotch’s washer. I’m sure he won’t mind. I feel like an idiot trying to get it to work though, but I finally figure it out. I shower quickly, thinking back on my experience during clinical. I love shadowing Erin as she allows me a lot of freedom to interact with the patient, but getting to deliver a baby? That’s an adrenaline high I’m still trying to come off of. I step out of the shower, drying my hair some before slipping into my pajamas. I’m not going anywhere else today, I’m wiped. I let Cujo out back and wait for Jack to get off the bus. He’s right on time and sprints up the driveway to the front door, which I open for him.

“Y/N!” He shouts, as he drops his backpack and wraps his arms around me.

“Oh! Hey, Jack! How was school?”

“So much fun! We got to watch a movie today!”

“That’s so exciting!” He then looks at me and furrows his brow.

“Why are you in your pajamas already?” He asks, giggling.

“I already took my shower! I had a fun day at school too, and I needed to relax!”

“What did you do at school today?” He asks, eyes wide, and I chuckle at his comical face.

“I delivered a baby today!”

“GROOOOSSSSS!” He groans, running off to the back door to join Cujo outside. I smile to myself as I shut the front door and lock it. Jack is occupied by Cujo for the better part of an hour before he comes back inside and asks to play a game. We settle on Candyland, and the competition is cutthroat. I’m not going to lose just because I’m playing against a child. It was a close game, but Jack eventually won and gloated about it before stopping and asking for dinner. We do mac and cheese tonight. I cut up some fresh fruit while the noodles are boiling, and when it’s time to mix the mac and cheese, Jack asks to stir. I hold the pot so he can reach it and he furiously stirs the mac and cheese before letting me resume stirring it on the burner so the butter and cheese will actually melt and mix. We eat quietly, and before I know it it’s Jack’s bedtime. I tuck him in, and as I’m about to turn off the light, my phone chimes. It’s a text from Hotch.

“Jack, your dad will be back really late tonight!”

“Yay! I miss him.” Me too, buddy. Me too. I turn off the light and shut the door and head downstairs. I pull out my textbook and notes as I have a huge test next week and I want to do well on it. I’m so engrossed studying that when I check the time it’s already 10 PM. I hear the soft pad of feet that cannot be Cujo’s, as he’s already asleep on the couch. I turn and see Jack standing at the end of the couch and he yawns as he rubs his eyes.

“I had a nightmare and can’t fall back asleep.” He says softly.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, come and sit with me.” I peel my blanket off my lap and he wordlessly slides in right next to me. I tuck my arm around him. “Do you want to talk about it?” He shakes his head no. “Okay, well, you can sit here as long as you like.” Within twenty minutes, he’s snoring softly, head tucked against my chest. I continue to study, and I don’t remember falling asleep.

A hand on my knee gently shakes me awake. I blink open my eyes and find Jack sprawled across me, half in my lap, my hand resting on his head that’s resting on my chest and when my eyes finally adjust to the soft light on the side table light I find myself looking at Hotch.

“Oh! Hi!” I whisper, voice scratchy. “What time is it?”

“Three. Jack has certainly gotten comfortable with you.” He says with a soft smile.

“Nightmare. We didn’t intend to fall asleep.”

“I can tell that by the textbook that’s still open in your lap.” I give him a sheepish smile, and he helps me push back the blanket covering Jack and I. Jack’s at an awkward angle, one that Hotch can’t comfortably carry him in, so I get off the couch slowly, Jack never wakes up, just clings to me like a baby sloth, ankles locking around my back as I take him to his room and tuck him in. When I turn to make my way out of his bedroom, Hotch is watching me with a curious expression on his face, one that I can’t quite place. He quickly schools his face into neutrality, moving out of the doorframe so I can leave the room and shut the door behind me.

“Tough case?” I ask, trailing him back to the kitchen as he opens the fridge and grabs the rest of the fruit that Jack and I didn’t eat for dinner.

“Just long.” He says with a sigh, unceremoniously shoving fruit into his mouth. “I can’t thank you enough for watching Jack.”

“Oh please, you don’t have to thank me. I had fun. He’s a sweet kid.” Hotch smiles to himself. “He’s lucky to have you as a father.” I watch as pink colors his cheeks. He clears his throat,

“Y/N, it just occurred to me, and I’m so sorry I didn’t ask sooner, but, where is your family from? Do you have family around here?” I’m a little jolted by the sudden attention on me, but I answer his question anyway knowing that he’s just deflecting from my compliment.

“I don’t have any family around here. We’re from all over though, my baba and I never stayed in one place for too long.”

“Your baba?”

“Sorry, that’s what I call my dad.” I shrug, a little embarrassed.

“Where is your dad now?”

“I’m not sure. He was always away on business trips when I was little, so I had to fend for myself a lot. My mom died when I was three, never really had extended family, so it was just me and Baba.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I don’t remember her, though my dad says I look like her.”

“Do you have pictures of your family?”

“That’s the weird part - I don’t have pictures of either of my parents. My dad hated them, never took them, and never wanted to be in them. Sometimes I feel myself forgetting what he looks like, but I know if I see him in a crowd I would still be able to recognize him. When my dad disappeared for good when I was fifteen, I didn’t have anything to remember him by.” I pick at my cuticles as I overexplain the situation.

“Oh. That’s horrible.”

“Eh, it’s okay. My gut tells me he’s still alive, but I don’t know if I want to see him again after all these years. There was always something about him, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. His name was Isaac Smith, but I knew that wasn’t his real name. It’s like he was hiding himself and his life from me. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever know who he really was.”

“Well, I hope you find out someday. You know, for closure.”

“Yeah, me too.” He regards me, studying the planes of my face, brows furrowed as though he’s trying to figure something out.

“When I first saw you, you reminded me of someone I know, but I can’t quite figure out who.” He shakes his head. “Oh well, maybe it’ll come to me.”

“Well, if you figure it out, let me know,” I say with a chuckle.

“Hey, why don’t we have Garcia do some research on you? Try and find out who your dad is?” I swallow hard and the movement doesn’t go unnoticed by him.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

He nods. “I respect that. But if you ever are ready, let me know, she’d happily do anything for you.”

“Thanks,” I say with a yawn.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I’m keeping you awake, aren’t I?”

“I don’t mind,” I say with a soft smile. “I delivered a baby today.” I don’t know why I want to tell him that, why I feel the urge to tell him everything about my life, but I’ll give into it anyway. His eyes widen.

“You delivered a baby?” I nod, grinning. “That’s so cool! Did you like it?”

“The adrenaline is like no other. It was a baby girl, the mom was so nice to me.”

“Of course she was, you’re like…like a shining beam of sun, lighting up wherever you go.” He says the last part quietly, not looking me in the eyes as if he wasn’t sure if he was going to say it or not. I feel my cheeks grow hot.

“Thank you,” I say thickly, and then yawn again.

“Okay, time for you to go to bed too, come on.” He says as he puts the fruit back in the fridge.

“What, are you gonna tuck me in?” I say with a mischievous grin.

“Only if I can read you a bedtime story.” He shoots back, mirroring my smile. I let out a soft laugh and he leaves me in the doorframe of the guest bedroom. “Thank you, Y/N. You saved my life this week.”

“Anytime, Hotch.”

“You can call me Aaron, you know.” I blink in surprise. “Hotch is fine, but you’re welcome to call me Aaron.”

“Okay…Aaron.”

-

chapter five - coming soon!

-

TAG LIST (want to be added? click here!): @iameternallylonely @morgthemagpie @mrs-ssa-hotch @angelmather1 @laubeck10 @rousethemouse @scarlett-jade3 @ssalinaprentiss @alexa-33 @ill-be-okay-soon-enough

#aaron hotchner #criminal minds #hotch x reader #hotch #hotch x y/n #hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #criminal minds fanfiction #matd!hotch #meandthedevil!hotch

[emilykat-artblog18]

Tillie’s Travels: Far From Port

(chapter 5)

.:: Missing Tug ::.

Meanwhile in Bigg City Port…

The storm had long passed in Bigg City Port but it had caused a great amount of trouble throughout the port.

Luckily all of my tugs had survived the ordeal, but there was plenty of work for them to do that day.

“The railway bridge down the canal has collapsed during the storm so Big Mac, Warrior, you two are to help with repairing it with Mighty Mo.”

“Right away Captain,” Warrior affirmed,

“Meanwhile Top Hat, you’re to report to the Railhead and help with taking away any destroyed rolling stock to Burke and Blair’s yard.”

Top Hat hooted his whistle and departed from the Star Pier,

“O.J and Sunshine, you two are to head up River to help Billy Shoepack and Little Ditcher clear any fallen trees and to see if Boomer made it through just fine afterwards you’re to go dredging in the estuary, the dump, and the quarry in case any rocks or garbage were blown into the water,”

“Yes sir!” Sunshine chirped and followed O.J to the Up River canal.

“and finally as for you Ten Cents,”

“Yes Captain Star?” Ten Cents acknowledged,

“You and Tillie are to head to the various piers in the harbor and help retrieve or take away any cargo that may have been tossed or destroyed by the storm.”

“Right then sir,” and Ten Cents headed off to the Coal Depot to reload on coal and to tell Tillie their jobs that day.

When Ten Cents arrived however, Tillie wasn’t there.

“Strange,” Ten Cents commented.

At that moment Tianna, a J50, came puffing up with a very anxious look.

“Did Tillie return to the Railhead last night?” Ten Cents puzzled,

Tianna frowned, “No, did she not end up morning at the Star dock with the rest of you tugs?”

“No, I’m afraid she didn’t,” Ten Cents faltered, “Maybe she ended up mooring off somewhere else when the storm hit.”

“Hope you find her soon!” Tianna called worryingly as Ten Cents headed to the Railhead.

At the Railhead, Ten Cents found Top Hat waiting with Frank and Eddie as Little Owl shunted cars onto the two rail barges.

“Ten Cents, have you not found Tillie yet? You two have plenty of jobs to do today,” Top Hat huffed.

“I know Top Hat, I haven’t found her yet but I was wondering, when was the last time you last saw her?” Ten Cents quizzed.

Top Hat thought for a moment, “Well, the last time I saw Tillie, she was taking her barges to the Melon Produce Warehouse. She said that it was her last delivery.

“Is that all?” Ten Cents quizzed,

“If I knew anything else I’d tell you.” Top Hat replied bluntly.

“Alright, thanks anyways.” Ten Cents sighed

Ten Cents departed from Railhead and made his way to the Melon Produce Warehouse. When he arrived, it was in quite a state: cargo had been blown off the quay and into the surrounding water, Tillie’s barges were tied in their place despite the mess however. But there wasn’t any sign of Tillie anywhere and Ten Cents was getting more worried for her.

“Where could she be?” Ten Cents pondered as he helped to retrieve any spilled cargo out of the water.

As Ten Cents finished he spotted something differently colored floating on top some splintered wood aways from him, he chugged up to it and realized it was a torn piece of a light lavender ribbon.

“That’s… That’s Tillie’s ribbon.” Ten Cents examined, looking up to the direction of where the ribbon went out in the open ocean, Ten Cents felt his boiler churn.

His crew grabbed the ribbon and in order to make haste he headed out to Dem Der rocks.

When Ten Cents arrived at Dem Der rocks, he looked around and breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t see Tillie holed on the rocks but it didn’t make any sense to him.

If she wasn’t swept onto the rocks from the storm, where else could she have been? As Ten Cents turned back to port he heard a foghorn.

He looked where he heard it and saw it was coming from Lillie Lightship.

“Lillie?” Ten Cents uttered.

“Ten Cents!” Lillie shouted trying to get his attention.

Ten Cents’s boiler bubbled and he hurried over to Lillie; As he drew closer he noticed that she looked distressed, her mascara was running as if she had been crying the whole evening.

“Lillie! Lillie what’s the matter? Are you sinking again?” Ten Cents panted out of breath.

“No, it’s not that, Ten Cents, but something awful happened last night!” Lillie wept

“What? What happened..?” Ten Cents plead.

“It’s Tillie… she was swept out to sea by the storm.” Lillie blubbered.

The news hit Ten Cents hard like a stone.

“I saw her being taken away by the currents, I tried to radio for help but… a ferocious wave swept Tillie away into the open ocean. I couldn’t make it to her if I tried… it was too late, all I could do was listen to her cries for help… I’m very sorry” Lillie lamented on the verge of tears.

Ten Cents comforted Lillie the best he could, he felt bad for Lillie but he knew he had to tell me immediately about what happened to Tillie.

Ten Cents chugged as fast as he could back to the pier. I practically could hear him panting outside my office. I went to my megaphone and called out to him,

“What’s the rush, Ten Cents?”

“Captain, Tillie’s been swept out to sea!” Ten Cents cried in exhaustion.

“Oh dear, well… I’m afraid there’s not much we can do at the moment, Ten Cents. Hercules is away working in another port and communications with other harbors are down due to trees taking out the power lines at Control. You’ll just have to carry out your duties on your own until all these inconveniences are rectified.”

Ten Cents didn’t like the sound of this but what more could be done? As he worked he thought long and hard about the current circumstances, as he was helping to clean up a pier, O.J. paddled over to him,

“Penny for your thoughts?” he queried.

Ten Cents told him what happened to Tillie and the old paddle wheeler listened closely.

“Oh dear… and there’s nothing that can be done to get Tillie back?” O.J. added,

“Not at the moment. With communications down and Hercules not around there’s nothing anyone can do, but I can't just sit here and not do anything either. Tillie’s probably out there by herself in who knows where.” Ten Cents maintained,

“And what are you going to do then, lad?” O.J. quizzed,

“Well… this might sound crazy but, I was thinking of going out to find her on my own.” declared Ten Cents

O.J. was taken aback, “Are you sure about it lad?”

“Yes, I'm sure. If no one else can, I can at least try.” affirmed Ten Cents

“Ten Cents, while I appreciate your bravery and persistence to bring Tillie back, I don’t think it’s possible to do it on your own. How would you even know where Tillie ended up or if she even did end up anywhere at all?”

“I’ll ask Lillie where she saw her swept away, then I’ll travel to the nearest port and ask around, if she’s not there then I’ll travel to the next until I reach the last possible port,” Ten Cents explained

“and if she isn’t there...” he began again before O.J. interrupted him

“It's a bold plan Ten Cents, but you couldn’t possibly last the journey out there, not without enough coal or water.”

“Then I’ll… borrow some barges here and load up on more at the ports” Ten Cents persisted

O.J was about to interject again but Ten Cents cut him off before he could.

“Even if she’s nowhere, at least I tried. And if I run out of coal and water along the way or back, so be it, I’ll still try to find a way to press on” Ten Cents vowed

O.J didn’t know what to say, he took a deep breath and chose his last words carefully.

“Alright lad, as long as you know what you’re doing, then I wish you luck.” OJ said before heading back to work.

Ten Cents continued his work as usual but throughout the day he slowly began putting his plan into action.

Ten Cents had put the first step of his plan into action. He had to be careful the best he could as if he was caught taking barges, much like Zebedee did once during the high wind season, he’d be in big trouble. Ironically though he went to the coal depot and picked up a coal barge, as he was turning to leave he heard an engine whistling trying to get his attention.

“Hey Ten Cents, where are you off to? Have you found Tillie yet?” Tianna called with a slight panic in her voice.

Ten Cents stopped and tried to think of what to say, “Uh… no I’m afraid I haven’t,” he started, Tianna’s face fell, “The truth is she had been pulled out to sea, once communications with the other ports are back on, Captain Starr will send Hercules to go searching for her” Ten Cents reassured her.

This managed to put Tianna’s mind at ease for a moment, “Okay then Ten Cents,” Tianna said with a small smile, “But where are you going with that coal barge? I thought you were scheduled to help clean up the harbor”.

“I uh… Captain Starr wanted me to take coal to one of the factories. He said it was important,” Ten Cents fumbled.

“Alright then, well good luck with that, I hope Tillie gets found soon though,” Tianna said finally.

“So do I…” Ten Cents said as he headed to the waterworks for a water barge. Little did he know however that another tug was watching him from afar.

Ten Cents crept into the waterworks and tied onto one of the water barges near the dock. As he was about to pull away he heard a voice,

“Where do you think you’re going with that?”

Ten Cents turned towards where he heard the voice and then he froze. It was Zorran.

“Shouldn’t you be clearing the docks with that other switcher friend of yours?” Zorran snarled.

“Uh no, Captain Starr took me off that for another job.” Ten Cents quivered.

“I see, did it require you to deliver water and coal to a client?” Zorran added

“Yeah.” Ten Cents replied.

“You’re lying, No one’s been giving out orders because the telegraphs are down because of the storm last night.” Zorran snapped.

Ten Cents went pale.

“I’ll be sure to report this to your Captain. I’m sure he won’t be pleased to hear one of his tugs have committed mutiny.”

“Now wait just a minute Zorran, I-”

Ten Cents was interrupted by the sound of a horn and the humming of an engine approaching. Zorran too was silent,

“Now what’s going on here huh?” quizzed Jacob,

Jacob was a Diesel Tug built at Lucky’s Yard. He did odd jobs around the port but he had no allegiance to the Stars or the Z-stacks.

Zorran scowled, “None of your business Jacob.”

“Well I’m here, so it is my business. Unless you don’t want to have a problem, you’d clear out of here.” Jacob said bluntly.

Zorran scoffed and then he puffed slowly away.

“Thank you for that Jacob, I’ll be on my way now,” Ten Cents sighed.

“Not so fast,” Jacob said, blocking Ten Cents’ way.

“You’ve gotta tell me what's the deal with that load of yours”

“Yeah? And what if I don’t?” Ten Cents growled.

“I’ll report your thefts to the coast guard. He won’t be pleased with this, nor will Captain Starr when he finds out,” Jacob dagged.

Ten Cents gave in and told Jacob his plan. The Diesel Tug was perplexed by it all,

“There, can I go now?” Ten Cents hissed.

“Not yet.” Jacob smirked,

“I must commemorate your willingness to go out and search for your work colleague as stupid as it may be. It’s no loss if you wind up lost with her, however I’ll keep this a secret under one condition:”

Jacob paused.

“Yeah? What?” Ten Cents queried.

“You let me do all your jobs in your absence.” Jacob finished.

Ten Cents was worried. He didn’t want anyone else to know he was leaving to find Tillie. He didn’t know if he could trust Jacob but what choice did he have?

“Alright Jacob, you have my permission,” Ten Cents caved.

“Good. Leave these barges with me, I’ll meet you at Burke and Blair’s yard tonight to give them to you” Diesel instructed.

“Why there?” asked Ten Cents.

“It’s the most discreet place for you to depart from. Not to mention, you have work to finish today.” Jacob explained.

“Oh uh alright then.”

The two parted ways, as Ten Cents went to see Lillie.

“The storm swept her northward,” Lillie explained through her streaking make-up,

“I only hope she’s alright.”

“So do I,” Ten Cents said before steaming back to Port.

Ten Cents helped Sunshine dredge in the estuary for the rest of the day. He didn’t talk much during the operation, he was beginning to have doubts about his decisions; Not just to go out to look for Tillie but to give his work to Jacob to keep his plan a secret.

“Everything alright Ten Cents?” Sunshine puzzled.

“Not really,” Ten Cents sighed, “Sunshine, if you had to do a good thing at the cost of something bad would you do it?”

Sunshine pondered for a moment, “Well it depends I suppose. How beneficial would this good thing be, and what would the cost be?”

“It benefits you and our fleet personally, but it costs well… I don’t know, it's hard to explain” Ten Cents stammered.

Sunshine conceded, “So something similar to what happened a couple 4th Julys ago?”

“Well yeah,” Ten Cents admitted, “We could’ve gotten into a lot of trouble with the Navy for that maneuver”

“Indeed, but we didn’t and you know why?”

Ten Cents was about to reply but Sunshine interjected, “Because Captain Starr understood our intentions and he forgave us.”

Ten Cents added, “And you said before that that friends are valuable”

“Not sure what that’s got anything to do with this conversation but if the good thing is as important as our mates then I’d say it’s worth doing” Sunshine smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ten Cents said, “thank you Sunshine”.

“Any time Ten Cents.” Sunshine winked.

That night Ten Cents crept out of the dock and steamed towards Burke and Blair’s yard where he found Jacob.

“It's all here for ya,” Jacob called in a hushed voice,

Ten Cents mosied over to his “borrowed” barges.

“I was starting to think you weren’t going to show up. Do you know how hard it was to sneak these things here without those two demons knowing?” Jacob huffed.

“Well I’m here now and I’m going through with this” Ten Cents retorted.

“You do know you’re going to be in trouble regardless if you come back with that friend of yours right?” Jacob quizzed.

Ten Cents shot him a dirty look,

“I’m just saying,” Jacob sighed, “This friend of yours must mean a lot to you if you’re willing to do this.”

“She does,” Ten Cents admitted,

Jacob gagged “You’ve got a lot of guts, a stupid kind of guts but guts nonetheless. Good luck out there.”

Ten Cents headed out of the port; he didn't know whether or not to be thankful or slightly suspicious about Jacob but he knew he had to do one thing, find and bring home Tillie.

[End of Chapter 5]

<-Previous Chapter • Next Chapter ->

#this is tugs #bigg city port #tugs ten cents #tugs captain star #tugs oj #tugs sunshine #tugs top hat #tillietugswitcher #tugs oc #tugs lillie #tugs zorran #theodore tugboat #the diesel tug #Jacob the diesel tug

[fluffy-critter]

#crosspost #busybee

[restforthe-burdenedsoul]

Decided to cancel the car sales appointment. I don’t know what fantasy world I was living in the last two days. I guess just one made from anxiety about the safety of my car.

We cannot afford a car payment plus the increased credit card payment that it would take for the down payment to bring the car payments down to a manageable price.

Plus, I still haven’t secured a new job and would likely need a co-signer and my husband already has his motorcycle under his name and my parents will not co-sign for me.

I’m going to need to wait and pray and hope that I find a job that pays me enough to afford a new car.

I’m definitely feeling pretty financially hopeless lately. I dont understand how we went from being perfectly fine and setting aside hundreds of dollars for the wedding to being too broke to even afford to live on our own.

I did end up with unexpected repairs that sucked up a lot of what we saved for the wedding, but when all was said and done, only 1k went on credit for it. And after that, things just kept going downhill between M’s job cutting his hours, more car repairs, increased cost of living, raised cost of rent… and we were never able to catch back up.

I am regretting quitting the hospital job, but also I’m pretty sure I would have been fired by now because I would have called out twice more for Interviews and have been out of work since Friday for my car and I was doing such a fucking poor job at work because I wasn’t understanding how to balance all the tasks with how fast paced they were and my stupid psychiatrist refusing to believe it had anything to do with symptoms of ADHD.

I didn’t think it would take so long to get a new job and now we can’t even fucking Uber because I don’t have a car.

I am feeling a little ashamed. Because this feels like 20-year-old-me Behavior. Where id Fuck up and not be able to pick myself back up and land at my parents. Except this time it’s friends.

I don’t know where to go from here.

[theerasofitall]

“Whether you’ve been a fan for 15 minutes or 15 years, welcome to the eras tour.” Taylor swift

Dear Taylor,

You might not ever see this and that’s totally fine. I’ve been a fan since debut (self-titled) your first work released by your record label. Our song playing on country radio, and me downloading songs on my iPod. I was probably in middle school. I had long blonde wavy hair, and was so happy to embrace it and people would say “is that Taylor swift?!” Taking it as the highest compliment of course.

Fast forward to right before high school, my friends and I learned Enchanted at a sleepover (we were all musical. Played guitar, piano and sang.) then forever and always. At 14 I loved that song because of the nuance.

I listened to all the other albums, and loved every award you rightfully earned but it wasn’t until 1989 that I finally said yeah this is the artist for me! I owned one piece of “merch” and had never been to a concert ever. I work my Shake it Off Victoria Secret shirt religiously. Sang in the car with my niece; and obsessed over your collab with Fall out Boy at the VS fashion show. I wanted a girl squad like that, and to be the pretty girl that a boy picked. I experienced “Wonderland” and fell in “love” with a terrible guy, who made my own self image issues worse. I even came up with my own Bad Blood-esque persona; and rocked your red lip classic style because it was perfect with my blonde hair. Her name was Bombshelle; because it’s what I wanted to be to the world but I was lost in so much of my own problems that I couldn’t.

Every era you released since 1989 was brilliant. Your songs rotated in every mix cd I burned, but 1989 was the only one I ever owned. The first CD for my first car.

I went to college, I found Reputation. Fell in love with Lover.. but always went back to 1989. My comfort era, my damaged era, that I kept trying to find solace in. I’m skipping quite a bit of time, but it’s because 1989 was when my swiftie was strongest until now.

Then you re-recorded.. you fought to earn and own your music. Your songwriting prowess grew and strengthened. I found an online book club; and have made an online community and found out that swifties transcend so many things, states, countries, ages, interests. (I’ll talk about that in another post)

When you announced and re-recorded 1989 Taylor’s version; I knew it would break me.

18 yr old me when 1989 came out was so damaged; an abusive relationship, self sabotage/destruction, body image issues but I had friends that loved your music and we found connection in your music. All online. When you released 1989 TV, I wept because to me you reclaiming 1989 wasn’t just your music. It was reclaiming the part of your life that was tarnished; and almost redo that era of your career how you wanted to; learning from the past to inform this future.

1989 tv; I hoped would mirror my own reclaiming. To be in a better mindset about myself, to have fixed and repaired the damages. I’m still working but overall it seems better.

That book club and the 3-4 swifties I’ve found in it; we survived the Great War. We got tickets to Amsterdam; 3 of us American so now we have to get there.

That’s my hope. To meetup with my friends, and have the experience of my life, to enjoy your show, and to make memories that will last forever for me and for us.

It seems impossible; I’m drowning in debt from past bad situations. I feel stuck in my life, I’m working multiple jobs. I’m fighting unsafe living conditions for my mental health/ physical health, every day. In the end though; I find comfort in different songs throughout the eras, through my friends/friendships I’ve made through your music. I’ve followed the invisible string and found the love of my life; who is my biggest rock the past 6 years; who we’ve survived everything up to now together. He’s the Romeo to this love story Juliet. I’m fighting for us to live together; to get out of the situation I’m in; but make life better. Reputation serves as the best motivation playlist to fight; it’s that of a fighter and a persistent spirit.

I hope beyond everything, that I can say “long story short, I survived.”

Your music has told my stories I can’t say out of fear, tragedy,trauma; but you tell the stories through lyricism and musical talent. I hope to share in the eras tour with you in Amsterdam July 5. I am working my ass off to get there.

🫶 A.K.

#taylornation #taylor swift #1989 taylor's version #the eras tour #swifties #taylurking #tree paine #scott swift #taylor nation

[bigbangbuffer]

I’ve had kind of a shitty month.

I moved apartments. That itself went fine, but moving is always a chore, even when it goes smoothly, is not that far, and is very much wanted.

Then my new roommate—who herself is very lovely and I get along great with—‘s cat peed on my bed. I spent over a week doing load after load of laundry and barely sleeping. Also not the end of the world, but I was far from settled in, and the whole debacle was disgusting and demoralizing and exhausting.

During all this, my coworker who was preparing to run a symposium with me got seated on the jury for a murder trial. My workload doubled over night, and between the stress at work and the stress at home, I was at my wit’s end.

And THEN—during the symposium, which my coworker thankfully returned on the second day of—I got COVID. like. Not Severe, life threatening COVID. I’m not high-risk, and did not have to go to the hospital for it. But I was Sick. Real sick. I’m finally able to get out of bed and “telework” (which today meant just reading emails I’d missed and trying not to space out too much or give into my bed’s siren call mere inches from my desk) now, but I had to burn nearly half of the scant sick days I’ve accrued since starting here a couple months ago. I couldn’t get out of bed for a while.

And then my CPU decided it’d be a great time to start frying itself this afternoon.

None of these things were devastating, but they were all not-insignificantly Rough, and piled up, they were a Lot. and I was so, so Done. But especially today, I also had… so much support?

One of my high school friends called me and talked to me for over an hour this afternoon; I hadn’t seen a single person in days, and I was beginning to go a little stir-crazy. She invited me over (once I’m no longer contagious) to finish the last of my cat-carnage laundry, which won’t fit in my too-small washing machine. She listened to me ramble about my OCs.

My roommate and another friend, neither of whom I’ve known for more than a couple months, have both picked up groceries for me. I paid them back because I wanted to, but I suspect neither would have asked if I had not offered.

When I panicked about my CPU on my various socials, I had four computer savvy friends talking me through various diagnostics and repairs for HOURS. With unparalleled patience for my tech illiteracy ;;>~>

And then this evening… another one of my friends stopped by with these.

Homemade, still-warm chicken noodle soup. Enough to feed me for DAYS. We don’t live terribly far apart, but the public transit is unreliable and slow, and she doesn’t have a car. It takes about half an hour each way to travel between our places. On a weeknight—and she commutes the opposite direction. And one way, she would’ve been carrying all this SOUP.

And just… I feel Extremely Loved tonight. Just. Wow. Moving to a new place, with a new job, in a new stage of life has been kinda hard and scary, even though I’m exponentially closer to my childhood home than I was in college, but with support like this it’s… yeah. I might just make it 🥹

#insert something about not having a partner but not feeling like I need one with friends like these #couldn’t figure out how to work that in #anyway #sorry for being Gooey on main #it’s the COVID #back 2 ur regularly scheduled shitposting 2morrow #shiro shirare shiravi shiratus

[showfall-costumes-department]

[Transcript received.]

[For reading purposes, entire first names are used in this transcript. We apologize for the inconvenience.]

[A car door opens, then closes after someone sits down.]

John: “Jenny…? You’re walking pretty well, doing better?”

Jenny: “Of course! I’m all sorted out, the hospital even repaired my prosthetic legs!”

John: “Oh! How, uh… nice of them!”

Danielle: “Those are so cool looking, oh my god…”

Jenny: “Thanks! I stuck some stickers to them and stuff once, but I decided I liked the metallic look more! Shiny black metal is always pleasing to look at!”

Danielle: “It’s really sleek, it’s nice…”

[John clears his throat.]

John: “So Jenny, you work at Showfall, yeah? Do you want us to drop you off there?”

Jenny: “Yes please! That would be greatly appreciated!”

[John inhales sharply, like he got burned, but starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot.]

Danielle: “Sooo, what costumes did you design?”

Jenny: “Too many to count! Most notably to me, the rats themselves, as well as a few of the Puzzler’s outfits from the past!”

Danielle: “Ooh! I loved the rats, they’re so cute!! Did you design Niki’s outfit? She was so pretty in The Social Experiments, I-”

John: “Hey, can we not?”

[The car goes silent for a moment.]

Danielle: “… John, are you okay?”

John: “I-I… Yeah, I’m fine. I just have a headache, is all. You can talk to Jenny later, if she- when she comes back in to the gym. To uh, visit us. Because she will.”

Jenny: “Oh, I don’t know if I could, I’ve been busier than an ant at a family reunion picnic! People have been quitting left and right because of rumors about the company, so I’m on a smaller team than usual. It’s like a group project where only one person is doing their job! I’ll sure try to visit though!”

Danielle: “They shouldn’t make such pretty women work so much, it’s unfair.”

John: “Danielle, that doesn’t sound-”

Jenny: “Aww, you think I’m pretty? Thank you!”

Danielle: “Of course, babe, you’re gorgeous! You shouldn’t be kept inside all day! Ask for a day off! It’s not like that building’s gonna crumble without you!”

Jenny: “Ah, I love it there too much to leave…”

John: “Guys.”

Danielle: “Right, headache, sorry…”

[The car ride goes silent.]

[End transcript.]

#encoreverse blog #showfall ask blog #jenny from showfall #john the trainer #dani the trainer

[ladyfly]

Tennessee Whiskey PT2

You watch Eclipse curiously as he walks to the jukebox. He puts a few coins into the machine and pushes a few buttons. A guitar and drums begin to play.

Eclipse takes your hand "Dance with me. Please?"

You blush and sheepishly stand up "I'm not too god at it."

He smiles at you "Just follow my lead Darlin'. You'll do fine."

Eclipse walks you to the dance floor and pulls you to him. Leaving a respectable distance between the two of you. One hand on your shoulder, two on your waist, and the last holds your hand tenderly. As he begins to sway the two of you gently you can't help the dopey smiley blush on your face.

He smells like hay, ceder wood, and dirt. It's alluring. You aren't sure if it's the liquor or the man himself, but your head is getting just a touch fuzzy. Eclipse raises your hand letting your body go to spin you slowly. You wonder what those lips of his taste like? What do they feel like?

Eclipse lets out a chuckle leaning down to whisper "Ah see ya lookin' at mah lips darlin'. Kisses are for when the date is over. Ah don't want to go rushin' things now. You can be good for me an' wait can't ya?"

You blush deeper as warmth pools in your belly "Y-yes."

He gives you a hard commanding look "Now ya didn't sound so sure of yourself. Wanna try again?"

You let out a small gasp and gulp "Yes sir."

Eclipse laughs "Sir? You sure about that kitten? Now's the time to change ya mind."

You let him sway you two in small circles. Did you mean it? Sir? ... Yeah. You think you do mean it.

You look up at him "I think so. I'm not really sure. I do like the sound of it."

Eclipse pets your hair "Ah hear ya. Nothin' is set in stone. If this ain't yer thing then alright. For now? Let's just enjoy the good compny. Sides, ah haven' gotten you to fall in love with me yet. Gotta do that first."

Good lord this man is going to kill you. You are actually hoping this night ends in a good night kiss. Pretty sure you'll shrivel up if you don't get one.

Eclipse clears his throat and nervously states "Ah... Ah'm havin' a real good time with you. Ah'm not usually the type to go lookin' for romance. But lookin' at ya sittin' by yourself at the bar? Had ta talk to ya. Glad ah did."

You lean into him, pressing your chest into him "I'm glad too. This has been the most fun I've had in a long time."

Eclipse gives you a lopsided grin "Well shoot! Glad ta hear that darlin'!" He looks up to a clock hanging on the wall "Ah do hate to cut this short... but ah gotta get up early tomorrow. Got some cattle needin' ear tags. Also the barn needs some repairs."

You frown as the song comes to an end "Oh... ok. Can we exchange numbers?"

Eclipse takes a card out of his wallet and hands it to you "Now don't look so down darlin'! This won't be the last time we see each other. If ah have to come to your place a work and ask for a date every day then ah will."

You look the card over before pocketing it "Well good thing I also want another date with you."

Eclipse walks you back to the bar and puts a twenty down. You do the same. He walks you outside. It's cold but that's alright. It wont kill you.

Eclipse turns to you "Did ya drive here?"

You shake your head "Don't have a car yet. It gets here next week. I took a taxi."

Eclipse bites his lip, he's never allowed to do that again, "Ah could give ya a ride? Doesn't have ta be to your house."

You mull it over "Alright."

Eclipse throws a fist into the air "Woo! Alright! Let;s get goin' huh?"

You giggle and follow him to a dark blue pickup truck and opens the door for you "Don't mind the equipment in the back. Ah. Uh. Ah didn't know ah'd have such appealin' compny in mah truck tonight."

You cover your face "It's fine."

Eclipse starts the truck after you give him directions "Aw, you shy little kitten? 'S cute."

You groan "Good lord. You are going to be the death of me."

Eclipse lets out a sigh "Well, looks like we're here."

He pulls into your driveway and hops out of the truck. Before you can open the door he's running around the truck like a mad man. He slips on the dewy grass before gripping the door.

With a bow he opens the door for you "Mixter."

You tilt your head "Mixter?"

Eclipse helps you out of the truck "Yeah! It's like Miss and Mister but for those who aren't men or women. Mixter."

You blush again "Oh! Well, thank you!"

He walks you to your door "So you'll call me later to set up a date?"

You nod "Oh yes! I had a nice time."

Eclipse shuffles nervously "Me too."

He stares at you for a moment. His eyes darting between your eyes, cheeks, and lips. He leans forward slowly. When you make no objections he plants a slow soft kiss to your cheek. Before you can say anything he runs back to his truck. His hat covering his eyes. Steam flows from under his collar.

You wave as he drives off. Chuckling to yourself as his taillights disappear. Feeling light as a feather you head inside your house.

#eclipse x reader #Eclipse is a flirt #fnaf daycare attendant #fluff

[m4rl3yp1p3r]

more outfits!!

here is my outfit from today! i wore my free people dress with a black long sleeve under it with my blue converse (of course)

here is my birthday outfit!!! it ended up being really cold and rainy for my birthday, but i didn’t mind. 

here is a more lazy outfit i wore recently. i made those shorts from a pair of jeans myself :)

here is my easter outfit featuring a nasty sunburn from the day prior that i’m still trying to recover from hehe. i promise i wore sunscreen but i seem to be completely immune to it. i found the dress at old navy and i had to have it because the color matched my bedroom walls and it had peonies on it, which are my favorite flowers so it just had to be mine.

and here is the outfit from the day my car broke down :( i found these super cute shorts from target and they’re actually part of a matching set, but sadly my chest is too big for the top. good news though!! my transmission was fine which i was worried about, but the belt snapped and i desperately needed new struts and i was able to get my car repaired and i got it back today!!! :)

also for my birthday my partner bought me a nirvana book and a pair of air force 1s which i’m going to try to style. i actually really like music and my favorite band is nirvana. or cigarettes after sex. (i think, i hate picking favorites) and i can’t pick a favorite solo artist. the little bits of poster you can see next to my mirror are actually part of a huge poster of kurt cobain. anyway. i hope you like my outfits :)

#fashion #midsize #midsize fashion #spring outfit #violet harmon #american horror story #outfits #ootd #soft feminine